David Quinn on how he will juggle the forward lines against Philly

The New York Rangers held a practice and got back to playing hockey a day after the furor over the Artemi Panarin allegations.  The focus today was on how the team would cope without him in the lineup.   It doesn’t help that Kaapo Kakko is on the NHL COVID protocol list, but Filip Chytil came off the list and is ready to begin skating.

Coach David Quinn talked about moving forward without Panarin, Kakko or Chytil.  “We’re playing a team that has had a lot of guys out themselves, nobody feels sorry for you, nobody  cares who’s in your lineup, who’s out of your lineup. It is a next man up mentality.”

He wasn’t kidding about the Flyers who still have Justin Braun, Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom and Jakub Voracek unavailable to play. They got some good news when Claude Giroux was cleared to play after sitting out for three weeks.

Quinn said that all teams have to face adversity this season, the Rangers are not unique in that category.  Quinn talk about adversity, saying  “Sports is all about how you handle adversity.  That  really dictates guys that are successful individually and teams that are successful and it’s something we have to face. That’s something we have to conquer. Our guys know that.  It’s a challenge we look forward to and embrace tomorrow night.”

New forward lines

Quinn confirmed that Igor Shesterkin will get the start in goal against the Flyers, but the biggest questions are about the forward lines.  Quinn said that he liked how the line of Ryan Strome, Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich played and he will probably keep them together, but it will be a work in progress, saying “Brace yourselves for some lines changing quickly tomorrow, cause we’re trying to figure out whats the best matches are that we can have. None of this 100 perent. None of this is locked in stone. ”

In practice, that Strome line was not intact, but as Quinn said, expect changes on the fly.

Jonny Brodzinski was the Wolf Pack’s leading scorer with two goals and six points in four games and he has been brought up to replace Panarin in the lineup with Gauthier filling in for Kakko.  Brodzinski played in one game for the Blueshirts this season earlier this month.

Postponed game rescheduled

The NHL announced that the game between the Flyers and the Rangers originally scheduled for February 14 will be moved to Thursday, April 22 at 7pm.

There goes one of the two two-day breaks that the team had in that month.  They will now be playing 16 games in 29 days in April and now have three sets of back-to-back games.

Lundqvist back on the ice

It’s been six weeks since Henrik Lundqvist underwent heart surgery and today he posted video of him skating and taking shots. It’s a pretty amazing recovery, the question is whether he will be in any kind of shape to play professionally in the near future.

Chris Kreider spoke about seeing the Lundqvist video after practice.  “Thank god, some good news…nothing could warm your heart more than seeing that. ..you’d expect nothing less from him.  He’s not the kind of guy who’s going to sit on his hands.  That’s some of the best news Ive heard in a long time and we’re thrilled for him. Hopefully he’s got a lot of hockey left in him.”

East Division

Scores

Islanders 3, Sabres 2

Standings:

1. Boston          16 GP    11-3-2    24 points
2. Washington  17 GP     9-5-3     21 points
3. Islanders        18 GP     9-6-3     21 points
4. Philadelphia 15 GP     8-4-3     19 points
5. Pittsburgh     16 GP     9-6-1     19 points
6. Rangers          16 GP    6-7-3     15 points
7. New Jersey    13 GP     6-5-2    14 points
8.  Buffalo            15 GP    5-8-2     12 points