After a couple days off, it's once again Rangers game day as the Blueshirts will host the St. Louis Blues. The Rangers are coming off back to back losses to the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Vancouver Canucks. They have only lost consecutive games six times this season, only one of which being more than two games in a row. With that in mind, expect them to play with some fire tonight and have a strong showing. The St. Louis Blues are 32-14-6, a pretty similar record to the Rangers as they currently sit in second place in the Central Division. This will also be another homecoming night, as Pavel Buchnevich makes his first return to the Garden since being traded for Sammy Blais in the offseason.
The Blues are currently riding a four game win streak, having gone 7-2-1 in their last ten. Most recently, they're coming off a 4-0 win in Chicago on Sunday, meaning they've had the same amount of time in between games as the Rangers have. The Blues will likely roll with Jordan Binnington in net tonight in attempts to keep his shutout streak going. Binnington, however has struggled to look like the hot shot goalie that won the Stanley Cup a couple years ago, especially this season. Often splitting starts with Villie Husso, Binnington is 13-10-3, averaging 3.12 goals against with a .904 save percentage. He has the tendency to get rattled relatively easily so if the Rangers can get in his head early, you have to like their chances.
As for the Rangers, Filip Chytil will return to the lineup after missing the past three games for reasons that originated with him not feeling well but turned into Gallant liking the lineup he had, leaving him the odd man out. It was reported by Vince Mercogliano as well other other Rangers beat writers that Gerard Gallants advice to Filip Chytil was to "be a left handed Mika Zibanejad," essentially meaning the head coach wants more of an all around game from the young center. I could and probably should write a whole piece on Filip Chytil, who has dealt with injuries, demotions, promotions, COVID, who knows what else throughout his time with the New York Rangers. There are times where I worry we rushed his development or think too much is being asked of the late first round pick but at the same time, he usually answers when presented with a challenge so keep an eye on him to have a big game tonight.
As for the rest of the group, expect a pretty similar lineup with a few exceptions:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Lafreniere
Panarin - Strome - Hunt
McKegg - Chytil - Gauthier
Goodrow - Rooney - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Nemeth - Schneider
The Rangers also made a roster move yesterday sending Zac Jones back to Hartford and calling up the recently extended, Captain of the Wolf Pack, Jonny Brodzinski. An interesting move considering Gallant already said Chytil would be returning to the lineup, making it difficult to imagine room for Brodzinski to get in the mix and why call a guy up if you're not going to play him? On the flip side, Zac Jones has done nothing but prove he belongs in the NHL and should be a consistent piece to the third defensive pairing with fellow rookie Braden Schneider. However, the veteran will always get the benefit of the doubt and frankly, Nemeth should get back in there but again, why not send down Hajek and keep Jones? Unless one of the forwards is questionable for tonight and we just don't know it you have to wonder what the thought behind recalling Brodzinski is and of course, wonder if there's more moves on the brink of being made.
Nevertheless, the Rangers will be looking to get back on track tonight after coming off two losses this weekend. This match up will be a good test for the Rangers as they can't rely on special teams to beat St. Louis who are second and fourth on power plays and penalty kills to the Rangers fifth and seventh. The Blues are a fast and skilled team so maintaining puck possession and playing the body early and often will be key in getting the edge in this matchup. Look for Shesterkin to get back in net tonight and expect another strong night from Alexis Lafreniere.
Chris Feldman
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