The New York Rangers are back at it tonight with their home opener against the Utah Hockey Club. Utah is in its inaugural season, but this is the Arizona Coyotes. They are a better team than most believe they will be this year, and perhaps some home ice stability will help them meet their potential. They are a team that can certainly surprise some good teams, as we’ve seen already this season.

Matt Rempe draws into the lineup tonight for Jonny Brodzinski, something we might start seeing regularly this season. Peter Laviolette appears to be sheltering Rempe a bit, as he’s a strong impact on the ice, but he’s also a bit of a liability when it comes to matchups and penalties. Home ice and last change matters for Rempe, thus we might see this swap a bit more often.

If anything, it shows Adam Edstrom was the clear top pick for the fourth line. Sam Carrick had a strong first game too.

Utah Lines

Clayton Keller-Barrett Hayton-Nick Schmaltz
Jack McBain-Logan Cooley-Dylan Guenther
Lawson Crouse-Alex Kerfoot-Josh Doan
Matias Maccelli-Kevin Stenlund-Michael Carcone

Mikhail Sergachev-Sean Durzi
Juuso Valimaki-Michael Kesselring
Vladislav Kolyachonok-Ian Cole

Connor Ingram gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Reilly Smith
Will Cuylle-Filip Chytil-Kaapo Kakko
Adam Edstrom-Sam Carrick-Matt Rempe

K’Andre Miller-Adam Fox
Braden Schneider-Jacob Trouba
Zac Jones-Victor Mancini

Igor Shesterkin gets the start.

Crazy Prediction: Another 4+ goals at 5v5

Game time is 7pm.

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