A Big Game Needs To Be Had By The Second Line For The New York Rangers

Among must-sees in tonight’s matchup between the New York Rangers and Arizona Coyotes is the second line for New York.

The “all-American” combination of Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan, and recently promoted J.T. Miller was thought of a compliment to the line of Mats Zuccarello, Derick Brassard, and Rick Nash.

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However, they’ve fallen short of expectations to start the season.

Neither player has more than six points, and all three have one point each in their past five games.

Players around them are meeting or exceeding expectations, while this line feels stagnant.

Would it be possible for the them to switch places with that of Oscar Lindberg, Kevin Hayes, and Viktor Stalberg? It wouldn’t be completely absurd in the mind of Alain Vigneaut.

So far this season, we have seen the Rangers bench boss get away from the norm, by trying different combination of players. Stepan and Brassard switch places early this season, Nash saw time on the second line, Jesper Fast and Kevin Hayes, saw time there too. The bottom six seemed to be a revolving door of players coming in and out of the lineup, but might be finding stability.

And, it doesn’t hurt to have a Emerson Etem as a spare forward for your team, who is still looking for his game, but has shown promise.

In the Rangers last game against Arizona, all three players registered one point each. In three career games, Stepan and Kreider have registered at least three points (Kreider four goals and Stepan three assists).

New York Rangers /

New York Rangers

Miller is the only player to not have move than one point in career against the Coyotes.

But, it is the present that is concerning about this line heading into tonight.

As previously mentioned, they have one point each in their past five games. For a line that so much is expected, the three as a whole is not meeting those expectations. Luckily, it has been the other three lines that have been able to carry the offense, while they remain searching for their games.

In last night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, it was revealed that assistant coach Scott Arniel spent time with members of the second line, reviewing their past performances and trying to improve in areas of their games.

That counseling session had it’s effects on the players, with both showing more aggressiveness and willingness to put the puck on net and generate scoring opportunities.

Next: What Needs to be Improved?

It is the part of their game that needs to be realized by all three players. There’s no need to waste opportunities, just attack, attack, and attack as much as possible. Good things will come.

Look for the second line tonight, and see if their play carries over from last night. If we see the players taking an aggressive style to the net, that means Arniel has gotten through and opened Pandora’s box.

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