The Rangers play the first of two games on the road, their final true road trip of the regular season, tonight in Colorado. Clinching a playoff berth has not changed the mindset of the coach or the players, nor should it. Tuesday was a first step, that’s all, not the end but the beginning and should be treated as such. The focus remains on playing the right way with relatively the same cast of characters until the division and or conference seedings are determined. Then, some modifications might be in order.
All that said, we will see some tweaks tonight. Ryan Lindgren, injured March 17 and expected to miss at least another week if not longer, showed once again he is the Bionic Man. Lindgren practiced this am next to his usual partner, Adam Fox, and will suit up tonight. Playing Lindgren in the high altitude of Colorado with no game action prior is an interesting choice. Wonder how much the lungs and legs will be burning in the third period, which is when the Avalanche try and put teams away.
Jacob Trouba will miss his 11th straight game, though he did practice in a regular jersey today, so he is close to being back in action. How many of us had Lindgren returning before Trouba especially when Trouba started skating last week. I would rather both be fully 100% before activating either, so if Trouba needs more time, by all means, make sure he has it. With Trouba out, K’Andre Miller skated again with Braden Schneider, which has become a solid duo. In anddituon, Zac Jones skated with Chad Ruhwedel, meaning that Brandon Scanlin, who saw his first NHL action Tuesday, will be a healthy scratch. In addition, Erik Gustafsson, who had been skating with Fox with Lindgren out, will also be scratched. This could just be a way to keep the D fresh, though we will have a better idea if that is the case if Trouba plays Saturday and Gustafsson sits again.
The top-six forwards remain the same. In terms of the bottom-six, Matt Rempe looks to be the odd-man out of the lineup. This doesn’t come as that much of a surprise. Against a speedy Avalanche squad, dressing Jonny Brodzinski in his spot makes sense and we could see Rempe versus the Coyotes. Brodzinski is lining up on the left wing of Alex Wennberg (back from the birth of his baby girl) and Kaapo Kakko. The alignment bumps Will Cuylle back to the fourth line with Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey.
Igor Shesterkin has leveled off substantially following his recent hot streak. Igor has posted a 3.56 GAA and an .881 save percentage across his past five outings, going 3-1-1 in that stretch. In two of the five games, he was brilliant. In two others, relatively poor, and in one, meh. Part of that was the defense in front of him, though there a couple of the shots that became goals he would like a second chance at saving. Shesterkin was the first goalie off at morning skate, indicating he'll start tonight vs. Colorado. This could mean that Jonathan Quick gets the nod against Arizona, if coach Peter Laviolette opts to go in that direction.
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