The New York Rangers have not won a game without Artemi Panarin in the lineup. They will be trying for the fourth time in two years and they are playing the right opponent to get it done.
Late today the word came down that K’Andre Miller is out on the COVID list along with Kaapo Kakko and that means the team will have to go back to its even more makeshift defense with Jack Johnson in the lineup.
Coach David Quinn said that this is just more adversity that they will have to deal with and the team is ready to play saying that “we’re confident in the lineup we have, the guys are feeling good and we’ll put forth a good effort tonight.”
The Philadelphia Flyers have been crippled by the COVID-19 protocols and are still without some key players though they getting captain Claude Giroux back for the first time in a while. He’s been off the ice for 15 days and missed three games. Also released from COVID limbo is defenseman Justin Braun. There’s no word if Braun will play.
Still on the Flyers no play list are Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom and Jakub Voracek.
The Flyers came back from a ten day hiatus due to COVID and lost to the Rangers in a shootout last Thursday. Then they traveled to Lake Tahoe and were steamrollered by the Boston Bruins 7-3. They have played 15 games, second fewest in the East and have dropped into fifth place.
How important is this game? If the Rangers can win they will pull within two points of the Flyers and four points from the last playoff spot. if they lose, they will drop six points behind Philadelphia who will have a game in hand.
Panarin latest
In his pre-game remarks, Coach Davis Quinn said that “has been contact” with Panarin and Quinn said that he “very, very confident” that Panarin will be cleared of any charges.
Latvian reporter Aivis Kalniņš tweeted the latest in his investigation into the allegations made about the Rangers star.
There has been no one who has provided any evidence to corroborate Andrei Nazarov’s story about a bar fight in 2011. The New York Post’s Mollie Walker spoke to three of Panarin’s teammates from that Vityaz team.
EXCLUSIVE: Three former Vityaz teammates of Artemi Panarin's tell The Post they never heard of the assault allegations made by their ex head coach Andrei Nazarov. https://t.co/J1dPHulhKI via @nypostsports
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) February 23, 2021
Although Nazarov continues to talk about the alleged incident, at this point it is his word against the fact that are no witnesses and no corroboration. Until Nazarov can produce someone who can verify his story, it should be considered a fabrication and Panarin should get back to work and not let this attempt at intimidation derail his career any further.
National TV game
The game will be televised nationally on NBCSN. The Rangers tend to do well on national television with the 2018-19 season the one exception. Over four years from 2014 to 2018 the Rangers went 34-18-2 in the national spotlight. In 2018-19 they won only four of 14 such games, but rebounded last season, going 6-5-1
They have been on the national schedule once this season, losing in overtime to Boston on February 10.
First coach gets the axe
In NHL news, Montreal’s Claude Julien was the first coach to be fired this season. The Habs are in fourth place in the North Division with a 9-5-4 record for 22 points. They have lost three in a row, including two to the Ottawa Senators. He was replaced by Assistant Coach Dominique Ducharme with Associate Coach Kirk Muller also left go.
Projected lineups
New York Rangers
13 Lafrenière– 93 Zibanejad – 89 Buchnevich
20 Kreider – 16 Strome – 43 Blackwell
48 Lemieux – 21 Howden- 12 Gauthier
33 Di Giuseppe – 17 Rooney -76 Brodzinski
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
27 Johnson – 42 Smith
25 Hajek – 22 Bitetto
31 Shesterkin
40 Georgiev
Philadelphia Flyers
25 James Van Riemsdyk – 14 Sean Couturier – 86 Joel Farabee
28 Claude Giroux – 13 Kevin Hayes -19 Nolan Patrick
12 Michael Raffl – 82 Connor Bunnaman – 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
55 Samuel Morin – 10 Andy Andreoff – 81 Carsen Twarynski
9 Ivan Provorov – 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
6 Travis Sanheim – 5 Philippe Myers
8 Robert Hagg – 56 Erik Gustafsson
37 Brian Elliott
79 Carter Hart
Join the live conversation!
The game starts at 7pm and will be televised nationally on NBCSN. The radiocast is on ESPN 98.7FM. Join us at Blue Line Station for our live conversation during the game. The live thread is open now.