Fresh off a strong win over the Devils, the Rangers travel to St. Louis to take on the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Blues are in a good spot to defend their title, sitting pretty atop the Central Division and the Western Conference. The Blues are stifling on defense, but the Rangers have been significantly better. Hanging with the Blues would be a big confidence booster, much like hanging with the Avs.
Ryan Lindgren is dealing with a lower body injury, and Marc Staal is dealing with something. Libor Hajek was a full participant in practice, so it’s safe to assume he will play if one of the others can’t go. This is a good barometer matchup for the Rangers – continued success against good teams bodes well for the rebuild, even if the playoffs this year seems to be a reach.
Blues Lines
Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Oskar Sundqvist
Zach Sanford-Ryan O’Reilly-David Perron
Alex Steen-Robert Thomas-Tyler Bozak
Mackenzie Maceachern-Jacob de la Rose-Ivan Barbashev
Vince Dunn-Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester-Justin Faulk
Niko Mikkola-Robert Bortuzzo
PP1: Schwartz-ROR-Schenn-Perron-Pietrangelo
PP2: Sundqvost-Bozak-Thomas-Dunn-Faulk
Jordan Binnington gets the start.
Rangers Lines (best guess – If Lindgren or Staal can’t go, Hajek will be back)
Chris Kreider–Mika Zibanejad–Pavel Buchnevich
Artemi Panarin–Ryan Strome–Jesper Fast
Brett Howden–Filip Chytil–Kaapo Kakko
Brendan Smith–Greg McKegg–Steven Fogarty
Brady Skjei–Jacob Trouba
Marc Staal–Tony DeAngelo
Ryan Lindgren–Adam Fox
PP1: Panarin-Zibanejad-Strome-Kreider-DeAngelo
PP2: Kakko-Buchnevich-Lemieux/Chytil-Trouba-Fox
PK Forwards: Fast, Kreider, Strome, Howden, Lemieux, McKegg
PK Defense: Skjei, Trouba, Staal, Smith, Lindgren
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches: Micheal Haley (healthy), Igor Shesterkin (healthy), Libor Hajek (knee)
Crazy Prediction: A shutout for Hank. He’s due.
Game time is 8pm.
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