New York Rangers defensemen Anthony DeAngelo and Brendan Smith will watch Tuesday night’s game against St. Louis from the stands.
According to a report from SNY’s Adam Rotter, Rangers defensemen Brendan Smith and Anthony DeAngelo will be healthy scratches for tonight’s game against the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden.
Brendan Smith and Tony DeAngelo are scratched tonight https://t.co/10euTuurKw
— Adam Rotter (@AdamRotter) October 10, 2017
This shouldn’t be much of a surprise as head coach Alain Vigneault has been known to keep the same lineup in place after his team has won their previous game. On Sunday night against Montreal, Vigneault shook up his defensive pairings after the team allowed 11 goals in their first two contests. It paid off, as the Rangers won 2-0.
Nick Holden and Steven Kampfer took regular shifts as the third defense pairing, each playing a little over 17 minutes in the win. DeAngelo dressed for the game but played limited minutes as the Rangers dressed seven defensemen. Smith, meanwhile, was a healthy scratch against the Canadiens.
Both Smith and DeAngelo will eventually get back into the lineup, but they need to get back to playing hard, defensive hockey without the same mistakes they have been making. Vigneault has no problem changing the lineup or sitting players when he is unhappy with their performance on the ice.
