The New York Rangers were back on the ice following a disappointing shootout loss at home to the rival Islanders.
Not being able to defend home ice was once again a problem Thursday night, as the New York Islanders walked out of Madison Square Garden with a 4-3 shootout victory over the Rangers
But according to Newsday‘s Steve Zipay, it doesn’t appear that head coach Alain Vigneault is going to switch his lines up when the team tries to end it’s five-game losing streak Saturday night against the Nashville Predators.
For those with short memories, those lines were:
- Rick Nash–Mika Zibanejad–Mats Zuccarello
- Chris Kreider–David Desharnais–J.T. Miller
- Jimmy Vesey–Kevin Hayes–Jesper Fast
- Michael Grabner–Adam Cracknell–Pavel Buchnevich
The only real surprise here is that Vigneault is sticking with Cracknell, who didn’t see the ice in the final 25 minutes against the Islanders as Vigneault decided to double shift Zibanejad with his team down two. The Rangers are still trying to find the right mix of line combinations and it appears that, for now, the coach has found a combination he likes.
Desharnais will continue to see second-line minutes as he has impressed, scoring goals in consecutive games and was the third shooter in the shootout Thursday. Playing him on the second line has come as a result of Hayes’ inconsistency. Perhaps Double-D’s play puts some pressure on Hayes to up his game as his role looks to be decreasing.
Lundqvist gets the start Saturday
Henrik Lundqvist finds himself back between the pipes after allowing eight goals in his last two games. Hopefully, he can get back to the form he showed before this slump when he allowed just four goals in three games.
Consistency from Lundqvist was one of the preseason keys to the Rangers getting off to a good start. It looked like Lundqvist had found his groove and the team just wasn’t scoring for him. Now it’s up to him to put together a consistent stretch as the team looks to be breaking out of their goal-scoring drought.
Stromwall placed on waivers
After getting a look at Malte Stromwall in each of the last two preseasons, the Rangers have decided to part ways with the 23-year-old winger.
The Rangers signed Stromwall at the end of the 2015-16 season after scoring 25 goals in 49 games while playing in Allsvenskan, a Swedish league. But that success didn’t translate to Hartford or the AHL last year, as he only scored two goals for the Wolfpack. Stromwall was demoted to the ECHL before the season began and is expected to head back to Sweden.
Other Rangers News, Stories
- ESNY’s Frank Curto talks to ESPN Radio’s Don La Grecca about the Rangers early season woes.
- Earlier this week, I looked at three potential trade targets the Rangers should consider making a deal for.