The Rangers kick off their annual three-game California road trip tonight in LA against the Kings. Coach Peter Laviolette shuffled the lines after a sub-optimal performance Saturday. With five battling for the second wild card spot - I view Ottawa as a near lock batting a collapse - this trip is critical for the team’s chances.

Practice lines from yesterday:
Lafreniere-Miller-Brodzinski
Panarin-Trocheck-Othmann
Kreider-Zibanejad-Cuylle
Berard-Parsinnen-Rempe

Miller-Borgen
Soucy-Fox
Jones-Schneider

Shesterkin
Quick

Scratches: Carrick (personal reasons), Aube-Kubel, Vaakanainen, de Haan, Kaliyev (upper-body)
IR: Edström (lower-body)

The blender is in full effect. Jonny Brodzinski, off a pair of goals and a shoot first mentality, moves up to the top line opposite Alexis Lafreniere and JT Miller. Also moving up is Brennan Othmann, who despite minimal ice time Saturday, was highly noticeable. He notched his first NHL point and assist in the win and gets a chance in the top six. Many have been clamoring for this type of switch, maybe not on this line, but a place in the top-six for Othmann, rather than bottom six usage. Hopefully he gets more than a few shifts before another change is made.

With Brodzinski and Othmann moving up, someone else had to slide down. In this case, Will Cuylle ends up on the third line, but next to Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Lavy is going with three true centers with Sam Carrick sidelined due to personal reasons (belief is his wife is expecting). The fourth line sees the return of Brett Berard with Carrick sidelined, paired with Jusso Parsinnen and Matt Rempe. I actually would have preferred Nicolas Aube-Kubel, called up to provide depth with Carrick sidelined, dress, as he might be better suited to fourth line duty.

The D, which has struggled, remains exactly the same as last game. Maybe Laviolette and Phil Housley hope additional time together is what these pairings need. I am not if that opinion, but I don’t coach the team.

The Kings, in a playoff spot, are the toughest team on this trip. Anaheim and San Jose, despite their records not showing it, will not be a push over. But LA is still the class of the three. Igor Shesterkin will have to be on his game for the Rangers to win tonight.

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