The Rangers may not be coming out of their break with the best record, but they are certainly playing their best hockey since October. The Blueshirts have had three straight games of dominating control, and while you can pass off the Flyers and Devils games as bad opponents, they controlled the Tampa game as well. That’s cause for optimism, especially with the woeful Kings coming to town.
More cause for optimism: David Quinn is dressing his best 18 skaters available tonight. It will be 11 forwards and 7 defensemen, but Tony DeAngelo will be that 7th defenseman, possibly skating on the fourth line regularly. For all of his maturity issues, DeAngelo over McLeod is a major net-positive on the ice.
Kings Lines
Alex Iafallo-Anze Kopitar-Dustin Brown
Brendan Leipsic-Jeff Carter-Tyler Toffoli
Carl Hagelin-Adrian Kempe-Ilya Kovalchuk
Kyle Clifford-Michael Amadio-Austin Wagner
Derek Forbort-Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez-Oscar Fantenberg
Dion Phaneuf-Paul LaDue
PP1: Kovalchuk-Kopitar-Carter-Brown-Doughty
PP2: Iafallo-Kempe-Leipsic-Toffoli-Martinez
Jonathan Quick gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider–Mika Zibanejad–Mats Zuccarello
Pavel Buchnevich–Kevin Hayes–Jesper Fast
Filip Chytil–Ryan Strome–Vlad Namestnikov
Tony DeAngelo–Boo Nieves-Pavel Buchnevich
Brady Skjei–Adam McQuaid
Marc Staal–Neal Pionk
Brendan Smith-Kevin Shattenkirk
PP1: Zibanejad-Kreider-Zuccarello-Strome-Namestnikov
PP2: Buchnevich-Chytil-Hayes-DeAngelo-Shattenkirk
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Fredrik Claesson (shoulder), Brett Howden (knee), Cody McLeod (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: DeAngelo hat trick.
Game time is 7pm.
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