No word on the defense
You can be sure that Tony DeAngelo will be back in the lineup, but the question remains who he will replace. Quinn had indicated that he could have restored DeAngelo back into the lineup on Tuesday, but his philosophy of not taking players out of the lineup when they have played well meant that he had to sit.
Whether that helped or hurt the lineup is a question. Jacob Trouba had a rough game in his second outing with Ryan Lindgren as his partner, but it would tough to imagine Quinn moving Lindgren back to play with Adam Fox after just two games. If DeAngelo is back on the third pairing, it means that either Brendan Smith, Jack Johnson or K’Ande Miller will be odd man out.
Miller was very impressive moving the puck against the Devils and he looked much more confident. Smith and Johnson both had five hits, most on the team and we all know the value that Quinn places on physical play.
The obvious player to sit is Johnson who has the worst possession stats of the trio and is the only one of the three who has been on the ice for shots against than for the Rangers. That said, he is also second on the team in penalty killing minutes, behind only Trouba.
Also, it would be embarrassing for him to be benched for his return to Pittsburgh, the team that bought him out. You can be sure that he has an incentive to show them that they made a mistake, a factor that Quinn and defensive coach Jacques Martin have to be aware of.
It’s a tough call for the coach and it will be interesting to see what he does. After today’s practice, he said that decision will be made closer to game time.