Editor’s note: Updated to include news about Panarin and Blackwell.
Fresh from a frustrating overtime loss, the New York Rangers look to even up the season series with the Bruins. The big question going into the game was the availability of Artemi Panarin. The Rangers’ star tweaked something in the second period on Wednesday and barely played in the second half of the game. He will not play tonight and is listed as day-to-day.
With the game on Sunday against the Flyers postponed, it is wise for the Rangers to take advantage of the break and let Panarin recover. The Rangers’ next two games are against the Devils and the Flyers and both teams are in the COVID protocol. There is a good chance that those two games could be postponed and that would mean the Blueshirts’ next game would be Saturday, February 20 versus Washington. That would give Panarin nine full days to recover.
With Panarin out of the lineup, the question is how Coach David Quinn will juggle his forward lines. He replaced him with Phil Di Giuseppe in the third period on Wednesday. Should he be giving Alexis Lafrenière a shot at a top six role? The only change we know about for sure is that Colin Blackwell is back from his injury and will play.
F Colin Blackwell will return to the lineup tonight vs. BOS, per #NYR Coach Quinn. Artemi Panarin is day-to-day and will not play.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 12, 2021
One thing is for certain, Quinn regretted not giving the fourth line more ice time on Wednesday. They were playing well with Julien Gauthier getting his first NHL goal and Kevin Rooney scoring his third. On a positive note, Mika Zibanejad had his best game of the season and is hopefully getting closer to being the player he was last season.
The Rangers have not announced who will be getting the start in goal. While Alexandar Georgiev did nothing to surrender his slot in the rotation, Igor Shesterkin has been slightly better so far this season. Georgiev was beaten on two breakaways in the game and the Blueshirts need their netminders to make those game saving stops. It’s something Ranger fans have gotten used to with Henrik Lundqvist in goal for so many years.