Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images
Per Brett Cyrgalis, Chris Kreider returned to practice today after missing a few games with neck spasms. Kreider was inserted directly into the top-six, as expected. What was not expected was Pavel Buchnevich being sent to the fourth line as a result:
Jimmy Vesey-Derek Stepan-Rick Nash
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner-Kevin Hayes-J.T. Miller
Pavel Buchnevich-Brandon Pirri-Jesper Fast
Oscar Lindberg was the extra forward.
It’s tough to have any gripes with the lineup. Sure, I’m not a fan of Buchnevich on the fourth line, but I kind of like the idea of Buch setting up Pirri with Fast making the smart plays to spring them. You know the team is deep at forward when Lindberg is the healthy scratch, even with an injured forward.
The defense pairs remained the same, with Adam Clendening as the extra.
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