The Rangers lost yesterday in a less-than-comforting effort to the Colorado Avalanche. Tonight they travel to LA to kick off their Pacific coast road trip with three tough games against LA, Anaheim, and San Jose. All three will test the shorthanded Rangers. And if our Blueshirts want to stay relevant in the playoff race, they will need a bunch of points.
It may seem alarmist to say desperation mode, but that’s where we are right now. Injuries have crippled the Rangers, who weren’t even playing well to begin with. Now they look worse and are dressing a good amount of players that are either career AHLers or at least started the season in the AHL. They are going to need some luck, but you create your own luck by playing a full 60 minutes. The latter is in their control.
Admin note: As you are all aware, these games start very late and end in the wee hours of the morning. All of us at BSB have regular jobs and such, and cannot stay up that late for a recap. So there won’t be any recaps the next three games. Sorry folks.
Kings Systems
Daryl Sutter was shown the door last year after a long run in LA. John Stevens is the new man in town, and I will have to update this with the systems he deploys.
Kings Lines
Alex Iafallo-Anze Kopitar-Dustin Brown
Tanner Pearson-Adrian Kempe-Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford-Nick Shore-Trevor Lewis
Marian Gaborik-Torrey Mitchell-Jussi Jokinen
Jake Muzzin-Drew Doughty
Kurtis Macdermid-Alec Dream Crusher
Derek Forbort-Christian Folin
PP1: Brown-Kopitar-Toffoli-Doughty-Muzzin
PP2: Pearson-Kempe-Gaborik-MarIHateYou-Macdermid
Jonathan Quick gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Rick Nash–Mika Zibanejad–Pavel Buchnevich
Mats Zuccarello–JT Miller–Vinny Lettieri
Jimmy Vesey–David Desharnais–Paul Carey
Daniel Catenacci–Peter Holland–Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh–Nick Holden
Brady Skjei–Steven Kampfer
Brendan Smith-Tony DeAngelo
PP1: Nash-Zuccarello-Buchnevich-Zibanejad-McDonagh
PP2: Vesey-Miller-Desharnais-Skjei-DeAngelo
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Chris Kreider (blood clot), Steven Kampfer (healthy), Kevin Hayes(contusion), Marc Staal (lower body), Michael Grabner (flu).
Crazy Prediction: The fourth line doesn’t play in the third period, with five minutes left, and down a goal (I can’t believe that qualifies as a crazy prediction, but nowadays it does).
Game time is 10:30pm. Be sure to follow on our Snapchat for in-game shenanigans.
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