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New York Rangers Only Need to Make One Change to Their Lineup

By John Williams

Oct 17, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Adam Clendening (4) looks to pass the puck against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 17, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Adam Clendening (4) looks to pass the puck against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New York Rangers played a fantastic game four on Tuesday night. Now that they can roll four solid scoring lines, the Montreal Canadiens may have met their match. However, there is one change that the Rangers could still make to their lineup to put them over-the-top.

The New York Rangers played their best game since game one on Tuesday night en route to a 2-1 victory at the Garden. The Rangers were able to roll four effective scoring lines which drove the Canadiens absolutely insane. The Rangers forwards were so good at controlling the puck in the game, every forward aside from Jimmy Vesey had an even corsi or just below an even corsi.

Now that Alain Vigneault found his forward lines–which he should keep going forward–the only weak link in this lineup has been whoever the team has rolled out as the sixth defenseman.

In games one, two and four, it has been Nick Holden, who has cost the Rangers numerous goals in those games. His most recent blunder came last night.

With Holden’s latest error, coupled with the Rangers continued struggles on the power play, Alain Vigneault should look deep into his press box and tell Adam Clendening to strap them up.

It Can’t Hurt to Give it a Try

Clendening is a very average defender, which unfortunately is an upgrade over both Holden and Kevin Klein. The best thing that Clendening can contribute to the team is his offensive capabilities.

Clendening had a 56.1% corsi-for at even strength in the regular season over the course of 31 games. The 24-year-old tallied two goals and nine assists in those 31 games and has shown that he is more than capable of manning one of the power play units.

Clendening fits in with the rest of this team really well as a guy who can skate and a guy who can execute the two zone stretch pass that is a staple of the New York Rangers offense and transition game.

Clendening and Brady Skjei looked really good together in February and March when they were together, and even though the Skjei-Smith pairing has worked out almost to perfection in this series, if the Rangers put Skjei and Clendening back together and put Smith alongside Marc Staal, then the Rangers could have three pretty solid defensive units.

Next: Thoughts After Game Four

After a win, especially in the playoffs, you rarely see a team make any lineup changes. The difference here is we have all seen how bad Nick Holden has been in his own zone this series, and the Rangers would benefit from giving somebody else a chance.

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