The Rangers kick off a busy week with one of two back to back match-ups as they play host to the Colorado Avalanche tonight at the Garden. The Rangers are coming off another disappointing loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, putting them on a bit of a losing streak. What makes that loss all the more disappointing is Filip Chytil, who sustained an injury very early in the game, will miss all of this week’s action, a minimum of four games. For the Rangers, who have already been struggling as of late, this next stretch of games is going to be a big test, especially for some of the depth guys. With Colorado tonight, the Islanders tomorrow and back to back road games with Dallas and Arizona over the weekend, the Rangers need to get back on track and tonight will be one of, if not the most important games throughout this stretch.
Colorado is coming into the Garden with the same exact record as the Rangers at 3-2-1. Not only are the Avalanche the defending Stanley Cup Champions, but they are also the new home of two former Rangers, Alexandar Georgiev and Dryden Hunt who the team just picked up on waivers last week. For Hunt, it will likely just be another game against former teammates but for Alexandar Georgiev, it likely holds a little more significance. Georgiev, who got his start in New York, didn’t have the easiest couple of seasons with the emergence of Igor Shesterkin. Being a back-up goaltender was not a role best suited for him and it certainly showed at different points. Now, Georgiev has finally found a home where he can play in a starting role and at the very least, way more consistently and so far, he’s done very well. Having played in four of the teams six games, Georgiev has yet to lose in regulation and is off to a decent start with a .908 save percentage. You can expect him to get the start for Colorado tonight and yes, you might want to place a safety bet on a Georgiev shutout just in case history has taught us anything.
For the rest of the Avalanche, you can expect a very similar power house to what they were last season. They lost a couple players from their championship roster but for the most part, this team is still very dangerous. Valeri Nichuskin is leading the way through the first stretch of the season, leading the team in goals, assists and points with four, five and nine respectively. While the team lost their starting goalie, second line center, and a couple other key pieces, the Avalanche brought in Evan Rodrigues, who has been a helpful depth addition with two goals through the first six games. Younger players with lots of upside are getting more of an opportunity, holding more responsibility and seeing more ice time than they did last year in Alex Newhook and Bowen Byram, who leads the team in the plus minus category as he is really starting to prove himself as a reliable NHL defenseman.
The Rangers have now lost two games in a row and while their record can still be considered a pretty good start, they have a tough schedule this week and if they aren’t careful, we could be having a whole different discussion this time next week. Realistically, this team should be able to win at least three, if not all of these match-ups. However, given the circumstance of the schedule, factoring in travel, fatigue and now injuries, you have to think that coming out of this week with at least four points would be satisfactory. It gets brought up a lot but it’s an important thing to remember that the wins are always going to be easier to get in the beginning of the season. Therefore, the Rangers have to look to right the ship this week and come out flying against these teams.
With the injury to Chytil, the Rangers center depth takes a huge hit as Barclay Goodrow, who is typically used as a winger, moves in the middle and Jimmy Vesey who spent Sunday as a healthy scratch with the return of Kravtsov, will slot in for Goodrow on the wing. That being said, given the lines we saw from practice yesterday, we can likely expect the following for tonight:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Kakko
Panarin - Trocheck - Lafreniere
Vesey - Goodrow - Kravtsov
Blais - Carpenter - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Hajek - Schneider
With four games in the span of six days, all of which being back to backs, I wouldn’t be surprised if Libor Hajek plays in at least half of them and frankly, there shouldn’t be any reason for fans to worry too much if that is the case. We need to remember a couple things, one being that Zac Jones is still, just like all the others, a young kid. Unlike the others, he has yet to play a full NHL season (yes, I know Schneider technically hasn’t either). The second thing to remember is regardless of the future Libor Hajek has or lack thereof with the New York Rangers, having him sit in the press box for 95% of the season is a waste of everyone’s efforts. Third, look at the Rangers defensive depth past Libor Hajek. They have Matthew Robertson and Andy Welinski, that is it. God forbid any of the Rangers core defenders goes down, we’re going to have no choice but to rely on Hajek unless they make a trade which I’m sure is something they’re keeping in mind. Nevertheless, there shouldn’t be any qualms with Hajek seeing some action this week as it will be a great opportunity for Gerard Gallant and the Rangers to keep him fresh.
As for the goaltending situation, it will be interesting to see how Gallant and Benoit Allaire play their cards this week. They made the decision to start Jaro Halak Sunday against Columbus on Sunday, given how busy the Rangers will be this week. With the pair of back to backs on the schedule for the week, it’s fair to assume the goalies will split starts throughout the week but playing the match-ups will certainly be a key factor in that decision. I’m also curious if the Rangers would consider rolling Shesterkin in three of the four games, especially if he has a stellar game tonight. The way I see, they’ll likely give Shesterkin the start tonight. If he doesn’t have a standout showing or if they don’t want to risk overplaying him, it would make sense to get Halak in against the Islanders, who he spent four seasons of his career playing for. From there, the Rangers would likely give Igor the start in Dallas and save Halak for Arizona as that should without a doubt be a gimme game for the Rangers. Or, if everyone feels comfortable rolling Shesterkin in a back to back since he had Sunday off, they can give him both starts during the week and let him pick which game he wants off for the weekend back to back. Either way, the Rangers are going to need a bounce back performance from Halak.
The Rangers didn’t play as bad as they did against the Sharks on Sunday but they were still far from the level they expect to play at. That being said, while Halak isn’t to blame for the Rangers losing to the Blue Jackets, he definitely didn’t help them and he was well aware of that. He was a bit hard on himself following the loss, noting that he should have been able to come up with saves on those second and third goals but again, at the end of the day, the team needed to be better, not just him. Regardless, whatever his work load ends up being this week, the Rangers are going to need him to play strong. Igor will likely come into the week looking to be better as well as you have to think that game with the Sharks didn’t sit well with him. All the more reason for the coaching staff to consider rolling him if he has a big game tonight.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s going to be a big week for the Rangers depth players as the absence of Filip Chytil is going to be significant. Through the early stretch here, Chytil has led the team in plus/minus and has been one of their leaders on getting pucks to the net. Goodrow has experience playing center and isn’t bad at face-offs so as far as winning draws go, there isn’t too much to be concerned about but as far as generating offense, guys are going to need to step up and Vitaly Kravtsov is going to have to be one of them. Again, his whole saga of will he won’t he with the Rangers hasn’t entirely been his fault but given the circumstances, time is of the essence here. With his injury interrupting his progress through these six games, we’re growing more and more impatient with seeing what he can do. While losing Chytil isn’t going to do him any favors, he has to find some confidence and find a way to make an offensive impact as that’s what exactly he’s known for.
Jimmy Vesey, who is coming off a game as a healthy scratch is another one the Rangers will look at to step up in Chytil’s absence. Vesey earned his way onto this team and essentially cost the Rangers Dryden Hunt in that process so the pressure is on for him to contribute now that injuries are coming into effect. The Rangers likely won’t make any call ups as Chytil is only listed as day-to-day, leaving him on the Rangers cap hit. As a result, the Rangers forward group will have their work cut out for them as nobody will be getting a rest during this busy week barring any more injuries.
Tonight should be a good test for both teams in a “what could have been” Stanley Cup match-up. The Rangers need to hit the ground running and get back to their earlier game of outplaying their opponents in every aspect. We talked about the importance of the Rangers depth players stepping up but have no doubt, this will be a big week for the Rangers star players as they need to lead the way and have an impact. Artemi Panarin has continued to succeed through all six games to start but look for Chris Kreider, who has been a bit quiet to get back on the score sheet and hopefully spark this team out of their little slump. Colorado has had plenty of time to rest from their back to back over the weekend so a good start will be pivotal in setting the tone not only for tonight, but for the long week ahead.
Chris Feldman
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