The Rangers are back at it on home ice tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins following a disappointing shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. The Penguins are 6-3-1 in their last ten and are coming off a 7-5 loss to the Boston Bruins. Fortunately for them, they have found plenty of success against the Blueshirts this season. Unfortunately for us, the Rangers are 1-4-1 against the Penguins this season but will look to turn that around in what will be their seventh meeting of this strange season.
The stars don't seem to be aligning for this young Rangers team, with our loss against Buffalo and Pittsburgh's against Boston, we fall a little deeper in the standings and our chances at a playoff hope seem more and more distant. This doesn't mean the time to tank is now or that we should give up trying, building a winning culture early is important as long as it doesn't cut into the development of our young players, I'll get more into that later. As for tonight, David Quinn will look to Igor Sheshterkin as he continues to ride his young star goaltender now that he is fully back in action. The line up won't remain the same however Vitaly Kravtsov will play again.
Over the weekend I was getting my ass kicked by the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and neglected to write the last couple days so real quick I want to just share my two cents on what was probably the only highlight from Saturday's game against Buffalo. Vitaly Kravtsov had a solid NHL debut. You could definitely see some nerves in the first period, he was careful with his decision making and didn't try to do too much which was good. As the game progressed, Kravtsov progressed as well, looking more and more comfortable out there, making a couple of really good defensive plays. In the third period, Rangers fans everywhere gasped as he almost scored a diving goal as Linus Ulmark robbed him of a rebound attempt in front of the net.
That all being said, Kravtsov certainly earned his keep and Quinn believed so too. He will remain in the line up but unfortunately will start out on the fourth line. I don't know if they're thinking of trading Blackwell already and want to showcase him as we approach the trade deadline or if Quinn just really thinks having him in the top six is our best option in making a push for playoffs. Nevertheless, Blackwell found himself on the second line with Strome and Panarin while Kakko fell to the third and Kravtsov the fourth.
I mentioned earlier, there is nothing wrong with establishing winning culture early unless it hinders with development. I also understand there is no need to freak out over practice lines and just because they start the game with it doesn't mean it will stick. However, Kaapo Kakko has been playing very good. It may not appear so on the score sheet but his defensive abilities as a forward are very strong. Kakko as well as Kravtsov are not bottom six forwards and don't get me wrong, I love Colin Blackwell, his games been great and he's having a career year. That doesn't mean he needs to play with Panarin on our basically top line. The kids need to play and Kakko has done nothing to warrant a demotion. Again, I understand Quinn has a method to this madness and there is apparently plenty of transparency to his decision with Kakko but unless it really works and we make playoffs because of it, it's very challenging trying to fathom this kind of decision making.
That being said, it appears the lines will be:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Buchnevich
Panarin - Strome - Blackwell
Lafreniere - Chytil - Kakko
PDG/Gauthier - Rooney - Kravtsov
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Hajek - Smith
Blackwell Rooney Gauthier should be the fourth line going forward, at least for the foreseeable future. It's tough I'm sure with expansion draft eligibility and many other considerations but if this team wants to put the best team out there every night all while developing their young talent, that is the way to do it. Brett Howden's future with this team is certainly questionable, especially if the team is still planning to work Morgan Barron into the line up later this season. The Rangers don't seem to be interested in making any big moves with the trade deadline coming up, but you have to think they'll listen to offers regarding their surplus of bottom six forwards at the very least.
As for tonight, the Rangers need this win for more reasons than to push for playoffs. They have had minimal success against the Penguins this season despite being able to compete with them. They also need to bounce back from Saturday's loss and keep building the success they have been recently. If they do all the little things, get pucks on net, stay out of the box and play a solid overall game, there should be no reason they can't walk out of this one with a win.
Chris Feldman
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