It is officially Henrik Lundqvist week as the Rangers kick it off with a rematch with the LA Kings on home ice. The Blueshirts last faced the Kings on their lengthy west coast road trip that resulted in a 3-1 loss. The Kings are definitely one of those teams that are off to a better start than most probably expected this season, they're young, don't let up a ton of goals, and can sneakily skate and outplay the best teams in the league on any given night. The Rangers will want to ride the momentum of the second half of their game with the Coyotes as they look to even the season series with the Kings.
The Rangers take on the Kings tonight and then go on yet another back to back starting with the Blue Jackets and ending with the Wild for Lundqvist night. You have to think Shesterkin will go again tonight while Georgiev gets Columbus and Shesterkin gets the Wild. Given then surplus of travel over the weekend, it's safe to assume the Rangers did not skate yesterday therefore, it's hard to tell what the line up is going to look like. With Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil listed as day-to-day its unsure whether they will be options for tonight. Assuming they aren't the Rangers will likely go with something like this:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Panarin
Lafreniere - Strome - Goodrow
Hunt - Barron - Gauthier
McKegg - Rooney - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Nemeth - Schneider
With the majority of the taxi squad guys being assigned back to Hartford, Barron remains as the only extra forward with the team. Another roster move of note that happened yesterday was Jarred Tinordi being placed on waivers. Now with all the trade rumors regarding the Rangers over the weekend, it's very easy to overthink this move. Frankly, it could mean one of two things. Either the Rangers are indeed on the brink of making a trade that brings Chychrun in, or the Rangers have just seen all they need to see with Tinordi and would rather he help the Wolf Pack who have the potential to make a run for the Calder Cup this season.
It could also mean the Rangers want to keep Morgan Barron around after the taxi squad option goes away. After all, the Rangers have carried eight defensemen most of the season and Tinordi has essentially become the eighth option as Libor Hajek (yes he is still here) has seen more of the action as of late. Whatever the Rangers have or don't have brewing, they do have plenty of business to take care of before the all star/February break and with five games remaining, this will be a big week that determines how the Rangers will look to move forward.
The Rangers also have new competition in their division as the Pittsburgh Penguins have quickly and quietly climbed the standings and have now surpassed the Hurricanes sitting one point behind us in the standings. We talk about how the wins are always easier to get in the beginning of the season and that will undoubtedly prove true for the Rangers as 10 of their final 35 games of the season will be against either Carolina, Pittsburgh or Washington. The three teams that are battling for the top three spots in the Metro. Games like tonight will be imperative for the Rangers as taking care of business against beatable teams will help keep them atop the standings with an edge over division rivals.
Regardless of whether or not Kakko and Chytil are options tonight, it'll be interesting to see if Gallant keeps the stacked line of Kreider/Zibanejad/Panarin together. If he does, it will also be a big test to see how Lafreniere does with top six minutes again and more importantly, how Ryan Strome looks with other line mates. Frankly, if Strome and Lafreniere are able to build chemistry together the conversation likely shifts from will the Rangers extend Ryan Strome to when will the Rangers extend Ryan Strome. If the day-to-day guys are unavailable, it will also give Morgan Barron another chance to shine and potentially solidify his roster spot with the team pending any external acquisitions. All around, there's lots to keep an eye on tonight, look for the Rangers to have a much better outing than they did the last two nights and buckle up for what will absolutely be an exciting second half of the season.
Is tonight the night Kreider finally hits the 30 goal mark?
Yes.
Chris Feldman
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