Gallant shakes things up, NY Rangers new lines lack roles

After last night’s clunker at home, Gerard Gallant predictably shook things up. He did it mid game, and now he’s making some additional changes.

Gallant fell back to his old reliable, which is Barclay Goodrow in the top six in a scoring role. Alexis Lafreniere is the notable demotion to the fourth line, and it does look like he will be the scratch tomorrow night in Tampa.

This screams the “one period against Detroit” mess that happened in November which set the Rangers on an awful stretch of barely .500 hockey. The Rangers laid an egg, and deserved a bag skate, but the lines were working previously.

Gallant is still coaching for his job, and that much is clear. The Rangers new lines lack roles, which goes against what his message was upon his hiring. When you’re coaching for your job, you go back to old reliable and what you think works, even if it doesn’t.