The Tampa Bay Lightning are in town, which will be another potentially ugly game for our Rangers. However the story is going to be in the minutes before puck drop, as the Blueshirts will honor defenseman Dan Girardi. Girardi retired before the season began, spending 11 seasons with the Rangers and two with the Lightning following his buyout.
Girardi’s later years on Broadway were definitely a mixed bag of desire, toughness, and an unfortunate blend of bad coaching and usage compounding a declining game. Girardi’s path to and tenure in the NHL is the true story and something everyone should remember. Girardi was given a two-way deal with Hartford/Charlotte to start his career. He played two weeks in the ECHL, then a season and a half in the AHL, and then stuck in the NHL for the next 13 years. His path was a microcosm of his career – true dedication and desire.
Bolts Lines
Ondrej Palat-Brayden Point-Nikita Kucherov
Tyler Johnson-Steven Stamkos-Mathieu Joseph
Alex Killorn-Anthony Cirelli-Yanni Gourde
Patrick Maroon-Cedric Paquette-Luke Witowski
Victor Hedman-Braydon Coburn
Ryan McDonagh-Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev-Kevin Shattenkirk
PP1: Kucherov-Point-Palat-Hedman-Stamkos
PP2: Killorn-Johnson-Maroon-Shattenkirk-Sergachev
Andrei Vasilevskiy gets the start.
Rangers Lines (assumed)
Artemo Panarin–Ryan Strome-Jesper Fast
Chris Kreider–Filip Chytil-Pavel Buchnevich
Brendan Lemieux–Brett Howden–Kaapo Kakko
Brendan Smith–Lias Andersson–Greg McKegg
Brady Skjei–Jacob Trouba
Ryan Lindgren–Adam Fox
Libor Hajek–Tony DeAngelo
PP1: Panarin-Chytil-Buchnevich-Kreider-DeAngelo
PP2: Kakko-Strome-Lemieux-Trouba-Fox
PK Forwards: Anderson, Fast, Kreider, Strome, Howden, Lemieux
PK Defense: Skjei, Trouba, Staal Smith
Alex Georgiev gets the start.
Scratches: Micheal Haley (healthy), Mika Zibanejad (upper body), Marc Staal (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: Staal and Girardi snow angel after the puck drop.
Game time is 7:30pm.
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