New York Rangers ready to take on Nashville, alternate captains named

The New York Rangers are ready to kick off the 2018-19 season as the Nashville Predators visit MSG on Thursday night.

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Game: 1
New York Rangers (0-0-0)
Nashville Predators (0-0-0)
Venue: Madison Square Garden
Television: MSG Network/ NBCSN

The David Quinn era will begin Thursday night at Madison Square Garden as the New York Rangers host P. K. Subban and the Nashville Predators.

Head coach David Quinn will take his spot behind the Rangers beach for his first opening night at the garden. Along with Quinn,  Neal Pionk, Alexandar Georgiev, Brett Howden, Vladislav Namestikov, Adam McQuaid, Ryan Spooner, and Vinni Lettieri, all will get the thrill of participating in their first opening night ceremony at the Garden.

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The team has been practicing with the same lines since the team made their final cuts last Saturday. the line combinations have a balance of scoring and defense with the hope the team can compete in every game as the team learns to adapt to a different style than that have used over the last few seasons under previous head coach Alain Vigneault.

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• Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich
  
• Jimmy Vesey-Kevin Hayes-Mats Zuccarello
• Ryan Spooner-Filip Chytil-Jesper Fast
• Vlad Namestnikov-Matt Howden-Vinni Lettieri

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• Brady Skjei-Adam McQuaid
  
• Brendan Smith-Kevin Shattenkirk
• Marc Staal-Neal Pionk  

Henrik Lundqvist will get the start in between the pipes.

The power play lines used in practice this week and projected to be used in Thursday’s game are:

Unit 1:
Kreider- Chytil- Zibanejad
Buchnevich -Shattenkirk

Unit 2:
Vesey- Hayes- Zuccarello
Spooner-Pionk

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On Wednesday the team announced that they would forego naming a captain and instead named five alternate captains.

#NYR will have five alternate Captains this season!

Chris Kreider
Jesper Fast@MikaZibanejad @zuccarello36
Marc Staal pic.twitter.com/9O969E3u6v

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 3, 2018

Marc Staal, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, and Jesper Fast will all wear the “A” this season.

Staal will wear the “A” for all 82 games, Zuccarello and Zibanejad will wear the “A” for all home games as Kreider and Fast will showcase the “A” for all road games.

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