Rangers vs. Red Wings: Lineups, storylines in Jonathan Quick’s return
Jonathan Quick makes his first start between the pipes since March 18, when the New York Rangers host the Detroit Red Wings in a Saturday matinee at Madison Square Garden.
The 40-year-old goalie missed six games with a lower-body injury, but dressed as Igor Shesterkin’s backup for New York’s 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. Since Quick is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, coupled with the possibility that he may retire, this could be the future Hall of Famer’s final game in the NHL.
The Rangers (31-36-9) have five games remaining after this one, and Shesterkin wants to play as many as possible, plus rookie Dylan Garand likely earned at least one more start. Do the math. Not a lot more opportunities for Quick, who is the all-time winningest United States-born goalie in NHL history, and 12th all-time with 409 victories.
It’s been a rough season for Quick, a three-time Stanley Cup champion. He missed a chunk of games twice due to lower-body injuries, and underwhelmed filling in for Shesterkin when the Rangers No. 1 goalie missed most of January with a lower-body injury of his own.
Quick is 5-16-2 in 23 games (22 starts)with a 3.18 goals-against average, .889 save percentage, and two shutouts this season, his third with the Rangers. He started the first two games of this season series against the Red Wings, making 32 saves in a 4-1 Rangers road win on Nov. 7, and stopping 40 of 42 shots in a tough 2-1 loss at MSG nine days later.
The Rangers had their three-game winning streak end in that loss to the Devils on Thursday. The Red Wings come off a 4-2 road win at the Philadelphia Flyers the same night. They’re tied with the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, despite losing four of their past six games.
3 storylines when Rangers host Red Wings
1. Fox is streaking
Adam Fox has it going right now. New York’s 28-year-old defenseman is finally healthy after two extended stints on LTIR and has a five-game point streak (two goals, six assists). He also has 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in his past 16 games.
Despite missing 27 games due to injury this season, Fox is tied for the Rangers lead with 38 assists in 49 games, where he also totaled 45 points. He returned after the Olympic break following his latest injury absence, and is a big reason why the Rangers played better hockey overall down the stretch.
“You look at our defense corps, he brings a unique skill set that the other guys don’t. And he missed a significant portion of the season … I think he’s recapturing that element of his game, but it’s hard when you missed that much time … you’re jumping on a moving train, so to speak,” coach Mike Sullivan said Friday. “I do think he’s getting better very game he plays.”
2. Kid line
Sullivan explained after practice Friday why he put three rookies on the fourth line against the Canadiens, and why that trio of Adam Sykora, Noah Laba, and Jaroslav Chmelar didn’t see much ice Thursday.
“That wasn’t the intent. Part of it was how the game played out,” Sullivan explained. “I had said to our coaching staff maybe a couple of games before, at some point, I wouldn’t mind exploring putting the three kids together and see what that might look like. They can all skate. They bring some speed. [Sýkora] has got, I think, a real good relationship with Jaro, in particular, and sometimes those relationships can carry over when they compete hard for one another out there. In a perfect world, my intention was to get them more minutes in the game.
“There were a number of special team circumstances, and I was looking for one particular match up against [Nick] Suzuki’s line, which is obviously a dynamic line. … So the way kind of the game flowed, let’s just say my intention was to get more minutes for that line.”
Expect that threesome to be on the fourth line together and see more minutes against the Red Wings.
3. Kane is still able
Patrick Kane is 37 years old now, but the three-time Stanley Cup champion is doing everything in his power to help drag the Red Wings back into the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Kane had a goal and two assists in the win against the Flyers, and brings a four-game point streak (two goals, six assists) into The Garden.
Since March 6, a span of 13 games, the former Rangers forward has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists). On the season, Kane is fifth on the Red Wings with 50 points (14 goals, 36 assists) in 60 games.
And in that game Thursday, Kane passed Brett Hull to become the all-time scoring leader among United States-born players in the NHL. He enters play Saturday with 1,393 points (506 goals, 887 assists) in 1,362 games.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Alexis Lafreniere — Mika Zibanejad — Gabe Perreault
Will Cuylle — Vincent Trocheck — Jonny Brodzinski
Tye Kartye — J.T. Miller — Conor Sheary
Jaroslav Chmelar — Noah Laba — Adam Sykota
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Matthew Robertson — Will Borgen
Drew Fortescue — Braden Schneider
Jonathan Quick
Igor Shesterkin
Rangers vs. Red Wings: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Detroit Red Wings
When: Saturday, April 4 at 12:30 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: ABC
