The New York Rangers got some very good news this morning. Both Ryan Lindgren and Kevin Rooney have been taken off the COVID protocol list and should play tonight versus Edmonton. The first roster move for the Rangers was to put Tim Gettinger back on the Taxi Squad.
UPDATE: Ryan Lindgren and Kevin Rooney have cleared Covid protocol. Tim Gettinger has been assigned to the #NYR taxi squad.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 3, 2022
Artemi Panarin and Jarred Tinordi remain on the COVID list with the earliest probably return for Panarin on Friday after the Blueshirts have started their four-game road trip.
While the team played extraordinarily well on Sunday without Lindgren in the lineup, he is still on the top defense pair and he makes Adam Fox even better when they are playing together. It showed against Tampa as Fox was paired with Libor Hajek and saw much less ice time that he usually gets.
It does mean that Zac Jones will probably sit and watch and depending on the availability of Patrik Nemeth, it could mean the bench for Libor Hajek as well.
Getting Rooney back will help the penalty kill and will give Coach Gerard Gallant some more options when it comes to forward deployment. It’s pretty much a guarantee that the top two lines will remain intact with Alexis Lafrenière on the left wing with Ryan Strome and Barclay Goodrow. With Rooney back, Gallant could use him on either the third or fourth lines. Gettinger played just over 12 minutes on the fourth line against Tampa.
Julien Gauthier played only 7:24 on Sunday, the fewest minutes of any Ranger by almost three minutes, but looks to get another chance on the right wing on ,the third line.
The big question is who Gallant will deploy in goal. He is a firm believer in riding the hot hand and in that case he could go with Shesterkin. It’s back-to-back games, but the fact that the first game was a matinee does make a difference. If he doesn’t use Alexandar Georgiev he risks alienating his back up goalie just when he has gotten his confidence back. The Rangers have two full days off so it’s not like Shesterkin or the team has been overworked.
Zack Kassian is the only Edmonton Oiler on the COVID list and is expected to come off in the net 24 hours.