Rangers shake up all four lines ahead of clash with Islanders
Despite winning two of their past three games, the New York Rangers are struggling offensively for the first time this season. Scoring two or fewer goals in three of their past four games, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette decided to throw the line combinations in a blender at practice Saturday.
“I just wanted to give it a change,” Laviolette explained. “That’s three out of four games where I don’t think we’ve taken it the way we want to offensively. So we gave it a different look in practice.”
The three games Laviolette refers to are the 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers Oct. 24, a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks Oct. 26, and a 2-1 win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. But really, the 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday could fall into that category too because the Rangers had brief spurts of offense, chasing the Capitals defensively most of the contest.
If not for Igor Shesterkin’s 40 saves against the Senators, and Jonathan Quick’s 32 save performance against the Ducks, those games may have been losses as well.
Related: 3 Rangers takeaways after edging Senators behind Igor Shesterkin’s brilliance
Rangers shake up lines, adjust third defense pair
So, in an effort to get things going, here are the lines that were seen in practice on Sunday:
Panarin – Zibanejad – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Trocheck – Smith
Kreider – Chytil – Kakko
Edstrom – Carrick – Vesey
If these are the lines deployed on Sunday afternoon against the New York Islanders, it will be the first time the dynamic line of Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere has been split up essentially since they were put together early last season. That has been one of the best lines in the NHL over the past year, so it will be interesting to see if Laviolette follows through and deploys the new groupings against the New York Islanders on Sunday.
Additionally, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad were split up Saturday, a rare sight as the two have been a mainstay on the first line for years. This could also be an attempt to get Zibanejad going 5v5, as he continues to struggle to find consistent offense. However, Laviolette think’s it is more of a general issue, than a Zibanejad issue.
“I think all three of the centermen from Chytil and up have good skill level,” the coach said. “They can all play with anybody. If you’ve got to make some moves, things are going to change. So, that wasn’t the reason why we did it.”
Moving Cuylle up to the second line is warranted for the young wing, who’s off to a terrific start. But it’s not easy breaking up the third line with Chytil, Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko because they’ve been terrific in all three zones. They’ve yet to be scored on at even strength this season.
With Matt Rempe being sent down to Hartford of the American Hockey League, it looks like Jimmy Vesey will make his return to the lineup Sunday. Vesey missed the first 10 games after being placed on LTIR before the season started with a lower-body injury. He skate don the fourth line, with JOnny Brodzinski as the extra skater.
The changes up front weren’t all that was new at practice Saturday. The defense combinations were also changed, reverting back to a look that was seen more consistently last season.
Here are the defense pairings shown in practice:
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Trouba
Jones – Schneider
So, Laviolette opted to go back to the familiar pairings of Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox, and K’Andre Miller with Jacob Trouba. These two pairings have been together for multiple seasons, and in an effort to shore up defensive mistakes, will likely return against the Islanders. The Rangers defensive play has been subpar to say the least recently.
This means, for now, that the experiment of the Miller – Fox pairing may be put on pause. The Rangers were outshot 87-37 in the past two games.
Zac Jones skated on the third pair with Braden Schneider at practice, bumping Victor Mancini to the press box for the second time in 11 games this season. Mancini’s metrics nosedived recently, and he struggled to contain the Senators on Friday.
Check Out: Fubo TV Review: Is Worth It for NY Rangers Fans?
Laviolette didn’t commit to using any or all of these changes against the Islanders, but it’d appear that’s the plan. And it’ll be the first major moves he’s been forced to make in the first weeks of the season.
More About:New York Rangers News
Read This Next
