The Rangers fell to the Wild 4-1 on Thursday. New York, unlike some of their counterparts, opted to dress those players who have been prominently discussed in trade rumors. Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes and Adam McQuaid all suited up with McQuiad leaving the game in the first due to an injury, which kept him out the remeainder or the contest due to what was called “precautionary reasons.” The Blueshirts face the Devils at home Saturday andnthe trade deadline is Monday at 3pm, expect a crazy stretch of time until then. (Of course I expect a deal to occur on the Sabbath, and if that happens, I will get a blog up Saturday night)

Game recap:


David Quinn Post-Game:

#NYR Coach Quinn talks postgame about the turning point of tonight’s matchup, Lias Andersson & more. pic.twitter.com/80g9YuUDV5

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 22, 2019

Lines:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Zuccarello
Vesey-Hayes-Buchnevich
Namestnikov-Strome-Fast
Brickley-Andersson-Chytil

Skjei-McQuaid
Staal-Pionk
DeAngelo-Shattenkirk

Lundqvist

Boo Nieves, Fredrik Claesson and Brendan Smith scratched. Andersson was promoted yesterday and saw 10:41 of action on the fourth line. Nieves was scratched when New York decided to dress Zucc and Hayes with Andersson likely called up in case one or both weee dealt or scratched. Claesson or Smith were in the press box because McQuaid was in the lineup. Now that all three potentially moving players have had their MSG farewell coupled with the scare created by the McQuaid injury, hopefully the team is smart and sits Zucc, Hayes and McQuaid on Saturday.

When Brett Howden, who was placed on injured reserve Thursday to make room for the recall of Andersson, is ready, maybe Saturday or Sunday, likely next week, he will immediately slot back into the lineup. The 20-year old was on the ice in a red non-contact jersey for the team’s morning skate Thursday, the third day he has skated since spraining his knee on Jan. 13. Either he, Andersson or Filip Chytil will slot into the second line center role when/if Hayes is moved. To me, I would go with Chytil though we could see Chytil and Andersson paired on the second line with Vesey with Buchnevich on the top trio.

McQuaid injury:

David Quinn said it was injury related with Adam McQuaid, who didn’t return after the first period for precautionary reasons. Quinn said upper body and he found out McQuaid would be fine between periods but it wasn’t prudent to bring him back in the game.

— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) February 22, 2019

Line swapping after the second period:. With New York struggling to generate offense, Kreider and Vesey swapped lines. I thought Vesey had a very good game while Kreider was somewhat invisible, so the change made sense.

Chris Kreider and Jimmy Vesey seem to have swapped positions, with Vesey up on the first line with Zibanejad and Zuccarello and Kreider playing on the third line with Hayes and Buchnevich.

— Colin Stephenson (@ColinASteph) February 22, 2019

Staal bleeding shots: Not a pretty game for Staal yesterday. Overall, I thought he hasn’t been bad, propped up a bit recently by skating with Tony DeAngelo after he and Neal Pionk struggled together.

Marc Staal bled shots against from everywhere but wasn't scored on at even strength.

All game charts: https://t.co/A0Kl1dwu09 pic.twitter.com/BIJNBKNJTt

— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 22, 2019

Interesting nugget in DeAngelo in the NY Post, talking about the improvement in his overall game, not just scoring. ADA has taken the criticism from Quinn and improved his play in the ice. In addition, the maturity issue that resulted in his more recent scratch appears to not be rearing its head lately.

DeAngelo extended his point streak to five games Thursday with a primary assist on Pavel Buchnevich’s power-play goal, it was the defenseman’s effort in the non-scoring areas that has impressed Quinn the most.

“To me, Tony’s really made a step,” Quinn said. “He’s done a great job playing within himself, controlling his emotions, not wasting energy that’s going to affect his performance. … You want to be judged by more than points if you’re going to be successful and stay in this league.”

Igor Shestyorkin: continues to post ridiculous numbers in the KHL. As of now, he is the Rangers’ top goaltending prospect. The hope is that he will be in the US when eligible and possibly take over for Henrik Lundqvist, depending on how Alexandar Georgiev develops and if he is the one exposed in the expansion draft.

Some eye-popping numbers for #NYR prospect Igor Shestyorkin! pic.twitter.com/t5R9dsVkJ7

— MSG Networks (@MSGNetworks) February 22, 2019

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