Look for some lineup modifications as the New York Rangers take on the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center on Saturday night. We won’t know the exact lineup until very close to game time as there are still possible changes. Both teams have been hit hard by the COVID protocol requiring lineup changes, but the Rangers were hit harder by the Vegas Golden Knights in their last game and that performance will result in some additional changes.
For the Rangers, Artemi Panarin, Igor Shesterkin and Julien Gauthier are out on the protocol. Added to the injured list is Dryden Hunt who sustained an upper body injury against Vegas. Both Zac Jones and Libor Hajek are out of the starting lineup due to their combined minus seven outing in Sin City.
Replacing Gauthier and Hunt we will see Tim Gettinger and Morgan Barron. The bottom six forwards have produced minimally for the Rangers so it’s possible that the new blood could revive their offense. Gettinger has played in one game this season, but was one of the leading scorers in Hartford with eight goals and 16 points in 21 games. Barron has played in two games this season, seeing a little over eight minutes of ice time per game.
On defense, the third pairing will be Jarred Tinordi and Nils Lundkvist. Tinordi has had a tough season with some minor injuries and a bout with COVID. He has played in only five games this season and hasn’t played since before Thanksgiving. He did play five games in Hartford in December on a conditioning assignment.
Lundkvist had been benched for two games in favor of Zac Jones, but is back in with the more traditional pairing of a rookie and a veteran defenseman in Tinordi after Jones and Hajek were lit up in Vegas. Gallant noted that on the road, matchups are important and Jones and Hajek had some tough shifts.
As for Anaheim, they had a game postponed due to COVID considerations, but will be playing tonight with the postponed game with Detroit on the schedule for tomorrow.
Still out on the COVID protocol are Derek Grant, John Gibson, Sam Carrick, Hampus Lindholm and Vinni Lettieri while Ryan Getzlaf just came off the protocol, but will not play. Adam Henrique (lower body), Max Jones (upper body) and Josh Mahura (undisclosed) are all on the injured list for tonight’s game. With goalie John Gibson out, Anthony Stolarz will get the start and he has won six straight starts.
Anaheim is in second place in the Pacific Division with a 18-11-7 record. They have one of the better home records in the NHL at 11-4-4. They are coming off a 4-1 win over the Flyers on Tuesday, but have gone 5-3-4 over the last 12 games. They have also gone to overtime in seven of their last 14 games winning three of those games.
After starting the season 2-4-3, they won 11 of 15 games before slumping a bit recently. They have the ninth best defense in the NHL, allowing 2.67 goals per game and the 15th best offense scoring 3.03 goals per game. They are especially good on special teams, fourth overall on the power play at 27.8% and with the third best penalty kill at 85.6%.
Projected lineups
Alexandar Georgiev gets the second straight start with Shesterkin out. He has started eight of the last 13 games allowing only 19 goals in those games. His outing on Thursday against Vegas was his worst since he gave up 12 goals in his first three starts.
The last time these two teams played was on December 22, 2019, when the Rangers won 5-1 at Madison Square Garden. Only eight Rangers are left from the 21 players in that game. Even fewer Ducks are left, with only six remaining from that 2019 squad.
The Rangers added forwards Anthony Greco and Lauri Pajuniemi to the Taxi Squad on Saturday. Pajuniemi, 22, is a sniper from Finland who has seven goals in 27 game for the Wolf Pack and if the Rangers scoring woes continue, he may get to see his first NHL action.
NEW YORK RANGERS
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 24 Kakko
13 Lafrenière – 16 Strome – 21 Goodrow
26 Gettinger– 72 Chytil – 17 Rooney
14 McKegg– 47 Barron – 75 Reaves
79 Miller – 8 Trouba
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
5 Tinordi – 27 Lundkvist
40 Georgiev
72 Kinkaid
ANAHEIM DUCKS
12 Sonny Milano – 46 Trevor Zegras – 64 Jacob Perreault
44 Max Comtois -21 Isac Lundestrom – 19 Troy Terry
67 Rickard Rakell – Danny O’Regan – 33 Jakob Silfverberg
20 Nicolas Deslauriers -23 Sam Steel – 53 Buddy Robinson
32 Jacob Larsson – 34 Jamie Drysdale
4 Cam Fowler – 42 Josh Manson
86 Simon Benoit – 22 Kevin Shattenkirk
41 Anthony Stolarz
1 Lukas Dostal
The Anaheim player to watch will be rookie Trevor Zegras, famous for his over the net pass to Sonny Milano earlier this season. He’s second on the team in scoring behind Troy Terry, surprise player of the year. Terry never had more than seven goals in a single season in four years, but has 21 goals already this season, tied with Chris Kreider for third overall in the NHL. Former Ranger Kevin Shattenkirk is leading all Ducks blueliners in scoring with six goals and 20 points.
How to watch and the live conversation
Game time is 10pm EST so it will be another late night for those on the East Coast. The telecast will be on MSG2 with the radio call on WEPN 1050AM. The national telecast will be on ESPN+.
Ranger fans have been wondering when Morgan Barron will get into the lineup so their wishes will be granted tonight. Let’s see how many minutes he plays. The live thread throughout the game will give everyone a chance to chime in with their assessment of Barron and to also complain about Jarred Tinordi (which is what always happens).
Fell free to weigh in below in the comments section during the game.