New York Rangers vs San Jose Sharks: Join the live conversation
By Steve Paulus
The New York Rangers play the third of a four game road trip in San Jose tonight. They are facing a team with a brand new coaching staff after the team fired Peter DeBoer and his assistants yesterday.
It’s always interesting to see how a team responds to a coaching change and the New York Rangers will have the challenge of playing the San Jose Sharks in their first game under interim coach Bob Boughner who has head coaching experience with the Florida Panthers.
It was a bloodbath in San Jose as not only Peter DeBoer was fired, but also his assistants Steve Spott and Dave Barr and goaltending coach Johan Hedberg. They were replaced by associate coach Roy Sommer, assistant Mike Ricci and goaltending coach Evgeni Nabokov. All three have had longtime experience in the Sharks’ organization.
The Sharks are currently out of the playoff picture with a record of 15-16-2 and they have lost five games in a row. The team is still trying to find its chemistry and their goaltending has been average at best. That was also the description fitting the Los Angeles Kings who beat the Rangers on Tuesday night.
The early reports are that it will be Alexandar Georgiev in goal for the Ranger. Brendan Lemieux did not practice and will be a game time decision. He was banged up in the Kings game, blocking several shots. If he cannot play Micheal Haley will get the call on the fourth line.
According the reporter Vince Mercogliano it looks like there will be a new first line with Ryan Strome centering Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko. That means it may be a reunion for the KBZ line of Zibanejad, Kreider and Buchnevich.
The new top line has barely seen any action this season, playing only 27 minutes at five on five. It should be an interesting combination as Panarin and Kakko complement each other in their styles of play. They both can be snipers, but are also outstanding possession and passing players.
As for the Sharks, this will be Joe Thornton’s 1,600th NHL game, the 12th player in NHL history to reach that mark. Also, rookie Joachim Blichfeld may make his debut tonight. He was the WHL player of the year last season, scoring 53 goals for the Portland Winterhawks.
The projected starting lineups
New York Rangers
10 Panarin – 16 Strome– 24 Kakko
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 89 Buchnevich
48 Lemieux – 72 Chytil -17 Fast
42 Smith – 14 McKegg – 21 Howden
76 Skjei – 8 Trouba
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
18 Staal – 77 DeAngelo
40 Georgiev
30 Lundqvist
San Jose Sharks
9 Evander Kane – 39 Logan Couture – 28 Timo Meier
48 Tomas Hertl – 19 Joe Thornton – 62 Kevin Labanc
12 Patrick Marleau – 23 Barclay Goodrow – Jaochim Blichfeld
20 Marcus Sorensen -7 Dylan Gambrell – 68 Melker Karlsson
4 Brenden Dillon – 88 Brent Burns
44 Marc-Edouard Vlasic – 65 Erik Karlsson
38 Mario Ferraro – 72 Tim Heed
31 Martin Jones
30 Aaron Dell
Join the live conversation!
It was a late night versus the Kings, but there was a lot to talk about so join the live conversation with your fellow Ranger fans.
The live thread is open….now.
Gametime is 1030pm (730pm in San Jose ). The game will be televised on the MSG Network and the radio call is on ESPN Radio 1050 AM.