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Game 68: NYR-NJD, Shattenkirk in, Staal out, Kreider dropped to 4th line

March 9, 2019, 7:01 PM ET [13 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Rangers meet the Devils tonight at MSG. With 15 games remaining, both teams are playing out the string with ping-pong ball placement the key. Kevin Shattenkirk, who sat Thursday is back in the lineup, while Marc Staal, who played through the flu, gets his first game off of the season. Chris Kreider, who was moved down the lineup Thursday night, is all the way on the fourth line.

Lines:




Some very weird line combinations. Chytil and Nam move up to join Zib. Vesey is with Strome and Fast. Buch remains with Lemieux and Howden, following his two goal performance Thursday. As noted above, Kreider is on the fourth line with Lias and Nieves. CK20 may be playing injured, as Dave Maloney stated that he was dealing with a lower-body injury. At this point, if accurate and if nagging enough to adversely impact his play, which has tailed off, then Kreider should be sitting. Go 11/7 if needed or play Connor Brickley, so that Kreider can get healthy.

On defense, with Staal out and Kirk back in, it's Skjei and 'Kirk again. Smith is paired with ADA while Hajek is with Pionk. Hank is between the pipes.

As I wrote the other day, for those looking forward and at the records, which seem to be most of us, five of the next seven games for New York come against Detroit, New Jersey, Edmonton, Vancouver and Detroit again with Calgary and Minnesota mixed in. These games will play a huge role on where the Rangers finish, since it's a battle for the lower part of the standings. I will post the record for each game below.

Detroit - loss 3-2 in shutout, picked up one point
New Jersey - tonight

Following those seven contests, New York then faces Toronto, Pittsburgh, Boston and St. Louis before closing against Philly, New Jersey, Ottawa, Columbus and Pittsburgh. Settle in, as we will see how many ping pong balls the Blueshirts get.

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