The Rangers look for two in a row tonight at MSG when they face the Penguins. Pittsburgh, who will be without Kris Letang, enters the contest third in the Metro, three points behind Washington and two shy of the Islanders with all three teams having six teams remaining. For the Rangers, tonight represents another chance to see the kids and also determine where they fall in the ping-pong lottery.
Likely lines (with Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast out and Marc Staal questionable):
Lemieux-Zibanejad-Buchnevich
Namestnikov-Chytil-Lettieri
Vesey-Andersson-Strome
Nieves-Howden-Smith
Claesson-DeAngelo
Skjei-Shattenkirk
Gilmour-Pionk
Chris Kreider didn’t practice yesterday and remains day-to-day, but is “inching his way to health,” coach David Quinn said. Maybe he is back for Boston on Wednesday, but I would say it’s even money he misses several more games and maybe the rest of the season. Though with eight contests remaining, I could see him seeing a few games of action. Marc Staal (questionable), who missed his first game of the season last week, also sat out practice after experiencing “a lower-body issue at the end of [Saturday’s] game.” If he sits, Frederik Claesson, a healthy scratched Saturday, would opt back in.
David Quinn Post-Practice:
Quinn on Buchnevich:
You can see the growth in each game. Buch is much more engaged and going into the dirty areas, Playing with Lemieux doesn’t hurt, as he provides “protection” to Buch and Zib. The Rangers will have a tough decision on whether to go short-term, meaning a two-year bridge deal, or long-term, maybe five or six years. Shayna Goldman had a good look at this on The Athletic this past week and this will be one of the main topics to discuss this offseason.
Down the stretch, I want to see if Lemiuex truly can play a top-six game, what Filip Chytil brings at center, can Lias Andersson show some of the two-way play that enamored New York to take him at seven, will Brett Howden regain his form from the beginning of season, is Brendan Smith's transformation into a hybrid forward/defensemen fact or fiction, does Ryan Strome fit better at wing or center and who on the defense can be counted on for next season? What about you?
I wrote the
below paragraph earlier. As I said, I will note the results of each of the final 10 games here and if New York’s place in the standings has changed. The paragraph also reflects the current standings.
March 19 – Detroit 3 New York 2. Still sixth. Tied with Anaheim, one game in hand. Edmonton lost, so no change
march 20 - Sabres lost (Buffalo has two more points than New York), Ducks lost (team has same number of points as Rangers but New York has two games in hand)
March 21 - Oilers won, so they are four points north of NY with the Rangers having a game in hand
March 22 - Anaheim wins, putting the Rangers for the time-being in fifth place in the lottery
March 23 - New York 2 Toronto 1, OT. Devils win, Oilers lose, Sabres lose
March 24 – no games impacted the bottom of the standings
If the Rangers continue to struggle, they could stay in fifth, as they are now, but the number of games remaining make that questionable. Edmonton has three more points than New York and have played one more game. In addition, Vancouver is three points north of the Rangers, with New York holding two games in hand while they also one point shy of the Ducks but the Blueshirts have three games in hand. Buffalo and the Rangers have the same number of points and game played but Buffalo holds the tiebreaker, so New York is currently in fifth. New York faces Detroit, Toronto (both games over), Pittsburgh, Boston, St. Louis, Philly, New Jersey, Ottawa, Columbus and Pittsburgh down the stretch.
After having three days in between games, the Rangers now finish the season with eight games in the next 14 days, with three in the next seven days, and five in the seven after that, including two sets of back-to-backs. They close the season on a back-to-back (home against Columbus April 5 and in Pittsburgh on April 6).
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