The Rangers, off three straight losses, two of which were on the road, play the Sabres in Buffalo tonight. New York received the diagnosis on Filip Chytil's injury suffered Sunday and the forward will miss 4-6 weeks. In addition, the Blueshirts will turn to Alexandar Georgiev between the pipes, sitting Igor Shesterkin, who has dropped all three of his decisions.
Chytil:I guess on the scale of missing a few games to sitting out the rest of the season, New York and the player ended up in the mid-point. Far from ideal, as Chytil was the team's best forward so far this year, taking a major step forward to potentially replace Ryan Strome as the second-line center. The good news is that Chytil could be back by the end of February or beginning of March, missing 15-18 games or so, if he meets that timeline.
Now what? Look for Ryan Strome's line to become the second line. I would restore the KZB line. Move Kaapo Kakko back to the second line, opposite Strome and Artemi Panarin. One other option might be to try Kakko at right wing on the first line, shifting CK20 back to the left side. Quinn could move PDG up, but with Chytil out and Brett Howden - who leads the Rangers with a 52.4% face-off win rate - on the third line, despite his improved play, I don't think I would move Alexis Lafreniere to that line, as I would prefer PDG to remain there.
Vince Mercogliano noted the following, which might be a reason to keep the top two-lines intact. Though, the lack of scoring despite the chances would be a driver to make the change. Right now, the Chytil line and Buchnevich were the only one producing and the chemistry will be altered again with Chytil out.
Could Kakko get a look in the top six? The line of Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome and Pavel Buchnevich led the team with a total of 23 scoring chances generated while on-ice together in the last two games, according to Natural Stat Trick, which might convince Quinn to keep them together. But the top line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and rookie Alexis Lafrenière has still yet to post a point together.
The fourth line will be made up of three of the four remaining forwards — Colin Blackwell, Julien Gauthier, Brendan Lemieux and Kevin Rooney. Gauthier, who was a healthy scratch the past two games, could make it three in a row. Blackwell scored Sunday and he brings a speed element to the dynamic slightly lacking with all but Gauthier.
New York now has a hole to fill on that line. Earlier this offseason, Brian Boyle was discussed as a possible option. with Chytil out, if sufficient cap room remains, I would take a flier on Boyle as a fourth line/penalty killing pivot. He would provide another veteran presence in the room and help remediate a gap, even when Chytil returns.
On
defense, as Mercogliano pointed out, "Jack Johnson was scratched Sunday due to early season struggles, and while Brendan Smith played well in his first appearance on Jan. 16, his past two games haven't inspired much confidence. The Rangers have other options. Veteran Anthony Bitetto and 22-year-old Libor Hájek remain on the taxi squad, available for a call-up at any time." I could see trying Hajek or Bitetto, since we know what we have in Johnson and Smith and trying to change the look to see if either pair well with Anthony DeAngelo.
Between the pipes, after going 10-2 last season, as noted above, Shesterkin is win-less through his first three starts of 2021. He has struggled so far this season, especially Sunday, when allowed three goals on just 19 shots, including two that went past him that likely should have been stopped. Those struggles, especially making the key stop, which has been lacking, is why Georgiev, who is 1-1 with a .907 SV% in his two starts, is back between the pipes tonight.
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