Rangers vs. Sabres: Lineups, storylines moving ahead without 2 stars
After a fairly tumultuous start to the week, the New York Rangers return to action Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, when they host the Buffalo Sabres.
They’ll do so without two of their biggest stars. Goalie Igor Shesterkin and defenseman Adam Fox each is out with a lower-body injury. Shesterkin is on injured reserve and there’s no timeline yet for his return. Fox is out at least until the end of the month after the Rangers placed him on LTIR.
It’s hard to imagine a much worse night for the Rangers on Monday. Not only did they blow a third-period lead and lose 3-2 in overtime to the Utah Mammoth, but two of their most indispensable players sustained significant injuries.
But this is professional sports, so the Rangers (20-18-6) must turn the page and find ways to stay afloat in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff race.
“We can’t really fill ‘Foxy’s’ shoes, we can really fill ‘Shesty’s’ shoes, so it’s going to have to be all of us coming together to boost the team, 20 guys as one, basically,” Vincent Trocheck stated Wednesday.
It’s not like the Rangers don’t have experience this season playing without top players. Fox recently missed 14 games with an upper-body injury; Trocheck missed 14 games earlier in the season, also with an upper-body injury; and captain J.T. Miller returns Thursday after a seven-game absence due to an upper-body issue.
All told, the Rangers lost more than 100 man-games because of injury or illness already this season. Matt Rempe and Will Borgen are among others who’ve been out for significant stretches.
“The message is we have to control what we can and stay in the moment,” coach Mike Sullivan explained Wednesday. “Let’s look at the one game that’s right in front of us and let’s put our best effort on the ice.”
Next up for the Rangers, who are 1-2-2 in their past five games, are the Sabres, arguably the hottest team in the NHL right now. The Sabres (22-15-4) won 11 of their past 12 games, a stretch that included a 10-game winning streak. They’ve jumped from last place in the East to one point out of a playoff spot.
Buffalo is two points up on New York, and has three games in hand, making this a really important game for each. Shesterkin and the Rangers shut out the Sabres 4-0 in their first meeting up in Buffalo on Oct. 9. That feels like a very long time ago for each team.
3 storylines when Rangers host Sabres
1. Quick Fix
With Shesterkin out, it’s Jonathan Quick’s net for the foreseeable future. Mika Zibanejad said after practice Wednesday that the Rangers are “lucky” to have such a quality backup goalie ready to step in for their fallen star. Quick, the winningest United States-born goalie in NHL history and a three-time Stanley Cup champion, certainly is a helluva safety net.
Of course, the concern here is that Quick turns 40 this month. So, how will he handle the increased workload? The Rangers managed him really well so far this season, and he’s delivered with a 2.23 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 11 games (10 starts). He allowed more than three goals only one time.
The Rangers recalled veteran goalie Spencer Martin from Hartford of the American Hockey League to back up Quick.
“My plan is, we’re going to feel this process out,” Sullivan said following the morning skate. “Obviously, we’ve got a lot of games here in a short period of time (five games in nine days; 12 in 24 the rest of January). That’s going to require two goaltenders, no matter who’s in the role. But ‘Quickie’ and I will work together with [Jeff Malcolm], our goalie coach, and we’ll communicate along the way here.”
2. Red-hot Sabres
Have the Sabres finally put it all together? And is it a coincidence that they’re playing their best hockey in recent memory since Jarmo Kekalainen replaced Kevyn Adams as GM in December?
The answer to each is speculative. But the Sabres sure have the look of a team hell-bent on ending an NHL-record 14-season playoff drought. Their 10-game winning streak tied a franchise record, and they didn’t allow more than three goals in any of those games. This is a team that lost 12 of its first 17 games (5-8-4) and was 11-14-4 on Dec 8. It’s night and day from then to now. But is this serious uptick in play sustainable?
“They’ve always been a team that’s dynamic offensively. They play a highly-skilled game, they have a lot of talent,” Sullivan said about the Sabres. “I think most recently they’ve been more difficult to play against … and you can’t score your way to success in this league, that’s been my experience. You have to have the ability to keep the puck out of your net. You’ve got to be able and willing to check and to defend. … I think Buffalo’s done a better job there.”
3. Key trends
Here are some trends to keep an eye on Thursday. Start with the Rangers owning the worst home record (5-10-4) in the conference, and without a regulation win at Madison Square Garden since Nov. 24. Also, six of their past eight home games went to overtime. They’re 3-2-3 in that stretch overall.
Scoring first is pretty paramount for each of these teams. The Rangers are 16-2-2 when scoring the first goal and a perfect 12-0-0 when leading after the first period. The Sabres are 15-2-1 after opening the scoring and 9-1-0 taking a lead into the first intermission.
Here’s another intriguing nugget: the Sabres are unbeaten in regulation for games decided by one goal (7-0-4). Since they’re 6-4 in OT, that means out of 41 games this season, only one was decided by a single goal in regulation.
Finally, how about the Rangers trying to keep up their scorching power-play production without Fox running the show? The Rangers were 5-for-8 in three games after Fox returned from that extended injury absence in December. Vladislav Gavrikov replaces him as the quarterback of PP1, looking to keep a good thing going.
He and the Rangers face a stiff test Thursday, though. The Sabres are second in the NHL with an 84.9 percent success rate on the penalty kill.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Artemi Panarin — Mika Zibanejad — Will Cuylle
J.T. Miller — Vincent Trocheck — Alexis Lafreniere
Gabe Perreault — Jonny Brodzinski — Taylor Raddysh
Anton Blidh — Sam Carrick — Matt Rempe
Vladislav Gavrikov — Braden Schneider
Carson Soucy — Will Borgen
Matthew Robertson — Scott Morrow
Jonathan Quick
Spencer Martin
Rangers vs. Sabres: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Buffalo Sabres
When: Thursday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSG
