Back at it at the World’s Most Famous Arena as the Rangers prepare to kick off a five game homestand with the Washington Capitals. Despite an overall haphazard performance throughout the three game road trip, the Rangers managed to pick up five of six possible points. As they are coming off a high intensity, overtime loss to the Penguins on Sunday, the Rangers should have a chip on their shoulder to not only beat Washington, but to get back to playing an all-around strong team game. As for Washington, they won’t come as an easy matchup to the Rangers, as they are currently undefeated against them this season.
The Rangers last saw the Caps towards the end of last month when they played a pretty abysmal game and lost 6-3. This was also the game where they lost Ryan Lindgren who has yet to play since. He has been skating and continues to make progress towards his recovery but despite his importance to the lineup, it’s in everyone’s best interest to ensure he’s 110% going into playoffs. Prior to that visit to the Capital, the Rangers were blanked by the Caps the last time they visited the Garden just after the holidays towards the end of 2022. With that in mind along with how the Rangers dropped Sunday Night’s game, there’s no reason for the Blueshirt’s to not be hungry going into this one tonight.
On the Capitals side of things, given the recent success of the Penguins along with how tight the overall race for the wild card in the East is, they are currently sitting six points out of a playoff spot. They aren’t by any means out of the conversation just yet but if they don’t make headway soon, this could be the first season in a long time where Washington doesn’t make the postseason cut. In their last ten, the Caps have gone 4-5-1, most recently beating the Islanders 5-1. That comes as a big win for them considering the Islanders are one of the teams standing between them and a wild card spot therefore, you can expect a strong push from their side of the ice. They kick off a back to back with the Rangers and Sabres tonight so there’s no question they will look to set the tone tonight as they look to get back in the playoff conversation.
One of the things that has been working real well for the Caps lately was their big trade deadline addition. Now for the most part, the Capitals were sellers at the deadline, sending Lars Eller, Marcus Johansson, Dmitri Orlov, and Garnet Hathaway to their respective recipients. The one trade they did make that helped them move forward here was sending a first and Erik Gustafsson to the Maple Leafs in exchange for Rasmus Sandin who has been a huge addition to their blueline, almost active as the perfect replacement to Dmitri Orlov. In their last seven games, Sandin has a goal and seven assists, leading them in both points and plus/minus. Sometimes it just takes a change of scenery for a player to reach his potential and this very well could be the case for Rasmus Sandin. He will absolutely be someone to keep an eye on tonight as well as the usual threats of T.J. Oshie and Alexander Ovechkin who has three goals in his last five.
On the Rangers side of things, Alexis Lafreniere and Jacob Trouba have been some of the highlights during this last little stretch. Lafreniere now has three goals in his last five seeming to have gained some confidence playing on a line with one of his childhood idols. Trouba has been leading the way with five points in his last five, playing well in both ends of the ice and making noise with his usual physical presence. While Artemi Panarin is leading the way in assists with four in the team’s last five and Kane has been providing offensively, both of them need to be a lot better, specifically on the defensive side of things. Kane especially has been atrocious for this team defensively and Panarin single handedly cost the Rangers the game in overtime on Sunday. There’s no question the main role for these guys is to generate offense but when their mistakes become costly, they need to start focusing on the other end of their play.
As far as the lines go tonight, it’ll be interesting to see if there are any changes. The team didn’t skate yesterday so we likely won’t know of anything until the team takes morning skate in about an hour or so. Given the latest on Lindgren, I wouldn’t completely rule out his return tonight but as I said earlier, waiting might be the safer bet here. Barring any changes to what Gallant started Sunday with, we could expect the following again tonight:
Panarin - Zibanejad - Tarasenko
Kreider - Trocheck - Kakko
Lafreniere - Chytil - Kane
Vesey - Goodrow - Motte
Miller - Trouba
Mikkola - Fox
Harpur - Schneider
Struggles aside, those combinations are probably in the Rangers best interest although I would like to see Kreider and Panarin swapped. Some of the brightest showings on Sunday came from guys who typically don’t get the spotlight in Niko Mikkola as well as the entire fourth line. The fourth line was without question the Rangers’ best in Pittsburgh and Niko Mikkola has been very solid defensively with respectable contributions in the offensive zone as well. As long as Lindgren remains out of the mix, the Rangers need Mikkola to keep playing well. Wouldn’t at all mind or be surprised with Gallant starting the fourth line tonight to not only reward those three for their efforts, but to set the tone as well. Expect Igor to return to the net tonight as they will definitely need a big week from their star netminder.
Speaking of the fourth line, now’s a good time to mention that the voting for the annual Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award is now live. Personally, it’s a bit of a toss up for me between Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey. Vesey went from being a guy on a PTO during training camp to a guy that has played and contributed all over the Rangers lineup. While Vesey’s story alone should qualify him a front runner for the award, it’s certainly time for Ryan Lindgren to seriously be considered as we’re always reminded during his absence how important he is to this team. Be sure to head to the Rangers official website to vote for whoever you think should receive the award!
Chris Feldman
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