Can we go one month without any drama? The Rangers are now without Artemi Panarin for an extended period of time, as he is on a leave from the team. Kaapo Kakko is also out, as he’s on the COVID list. So it’s on Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider to get their games going, because the top-six won’t survive on the backs of Ryan Strome and Pavel Buchnevich, no matter how well they’ve been playing.
Meanwhile, the Flyers got Claude Giroux back. So this team is better than the team the Rangers faced just last week. Team defense is going to be the strategy for the Rangers. Either that, or maybe Zibanejad shaves his head and gets going. Sometimes you just need to change things up.
Speaking of changing things up, expect a ton of lineup changes throughout the game. David Quinn said he needs to find what works, and one practice wasn’t enough.
Flyers Lines
James van Riemsdyk-Sean Couturier–Joel Farabee
Claude Giroux-Kevin Hayes-Connor Bunnaman
Michael Raffl–Nolan Patrick-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Carsen Twarynski-Andy Andreoff-Maksim Sushko
Ivan Provorov-Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim-Phillippe Myers
Robet Hagg-Erik Gustafsson
PP1: Patrick-Couturier-Farabee-JVR-Gustafsson
PP2: Raffl-Hayes-Kase-Provorov-Gostisbehere
Brian Elliott gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Alexis Lafreniere-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich
Chris Kreider–Ryan Strome–Colin Blackwell
Brendan Lemieux–Brett Howden-Julien Gauthier
Phil Di Giuseppe–Kevin Rooney-Jonny Brodzinski
Ryan Lindgren–Adam Fox
Jack Johnson-Brendan Smith
Libor Hajek–Anthony Bitetto
PP1: Strome-Zibanejad-Blackwell-Kreider-Fox
PP2: Lafreniere-Buchnevich-Lemieux-Bitetto-Miller
Igor Shesterkin gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Filip Chytil (upper body), Jacob Trouba (thumb), Kaapo Kakko (COVID list), Artemi Panarin (Russian Hit Piece), K’Andre Miller (COVID list)
Crazy Prediction: Adam Fox plays under 30 minutes.
Game time is 7pm.
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