The Rangers continue their homestand tonight against the Bruins. Boston comes in off a 3-1 win over the Islanders last night while New York fell 4-3 in overtime Monday to the Kings, who defeated the Devils last night. The two l lineup changes tonight will be Alexandar Georgiev between the pipes in place of Henrik Lundqvist whole Neal Pionk, to the surprise of most, takes a seat, replaced by Cody McLeod, who slots back onto the fourth line skating with Boo Nieves and Jimmy Vesey.
Likely lines:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Zuccarello
Buchnevich-Hayes-Fast
Chytil-Strome-Namestnikov
McLeod-Nieves-Vesey
Skjei-McQuaid
Staal-DeAngelo
Smith-Shattenkirk
Brett Cyrgalis has the quotes from David Quinn explaining why
Pionk is being scratched, Monday likely was the final straw in that decision, as Pionk struggled again, with his icing and then defensive misplay resulting in one of the goals against. His offense has dried up, and with nothing to offset his poor defensive play, which has been the case much of the year, this call was a pretty easy one. The one question I have is will Pionk sit more than one game.
With Freddy Claesson close to returning, adding an eighth blueliner to the mix, Quinn and Lindy Ruff will have to likely sit two defensemen per game, at least until Adam McQuaid is moved and/or New York deploys an 11/7 alignment again. When/if Ryan Lindgren is called back up, Nee York will once again have eight men in the back end. Pionk hasn’t shown enough lately to stay in the lineup, but for his growth and where New York is going, he needs to play.
“Listen, we’ve asked him to do an awful lot,” Quinn said after Tuesday’s practice in Tarrytown. “He’s played against everybody’s top players, and he’s done a really good job. The injury kind of slowed him down a little bit. I think he’s lost a little bit of his confidence. Might be good to give him a night off, get him back to feeling good about himself. Work on some things we have to address to get him back to playing the way he was.”
But then he blocked a shot in a game just after Christmas and suffered a lower-body injury. It was not bad enough to force Pionk to the sideline and he didn’t allow the pain to force him out of the lineup. That is when Pionk started playing without his usual vigor and confidence. He played eight games from Dec. 27-Jan. 10 before finally needing to sit out Jan. 12 against the Islanders.
“I think during the stretch when he was sucking it up and playing through a tough injury — give him a lot of credit, that’s how tough he is — I thought he lost a little bit of his confidence and swagger through that process,” Quinn said. “We have to help him get it back. And, I like the way the other guys are playing.”
“He just looks indecisive,” Quinn said. “Usually he’s a guy that, when he’s moving his feet, he makes great decisions, he’s decisive in the defensive zone. He just looks unsure of himself. When he’s on his game, he’s very decisive. He does things fast, he competes, and he moves pucks quickly. He’s just a half-fraction off in these decisions.”
Georgiev gets his 15th start in New York’s 53rd game of the season. With the Rangers playing almost every other day for the next two months, Quinn and goaltending coach Benoit Allaire need to determine how frequently to sit Henrik Lundqvist. I would expect Hank to get more rest the remainder of the way, especially with the Rangers looking towards the future and aiming for the best possible ping pong ball odds. With the playoffs a very remote possibility, little reason exists to overwork Lundqvist, which has probably been the case until now.
Update: Cody McLeod traded to Nashville for a seventh round pick in 2020. To replace him on the active roster, New York recalled Vinni Lettieri, who will slide into McLeod’s spot in the fourth line. This could be Lettieri’s last chance on the Rangers. I know McLeod was not a fave among Rangers twitter, but he brought an honest effort nightly. Provided veteran leadership, which has a certain amount of value. So while the game now may have passed him by a bit, based on more of the reliance on speed and skill rather than a physical presence of an enforcer, he did provide effort on each shift, even if results did lag and lack (see Linked thread below on this denate)
https://twitter.com/GarretHohl/status/1093212224066207744?s=20
On a personal note, happy 18th birthday to my oldest daughter, Mia.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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