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Ryan Strome’s good news positive on all fronts for New York Rangers

By Andrew Steele-Davis

TAMPA, FLORIDA - JUNE 05: Ondrej Palat #18 of the Tampa Bay Lightning collides with Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers during the first period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on June 05, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - JUNE 05: Ondrej Palat #18 of the Tampa Bay Lightning collides with Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers during the first period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on June 05, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Ryan Strome should be good to go for Game Four and that ticks a number of important boxes for the New York Rangers.

In what was a tough Game Three all-round for the Blueshirts on Sunday, the firm kick to the crotch came in the form of Strome leaving the game with an undisclosed lower-body injury.

The forward made for the locker room in clear pain after a light shove from Ondrej Palat and, while he did return to the bench, he lasted just one more short shift before being ruled out for the remainder of the contest.

It was a considerable body blow for Head Coach Gerard Gallant who had to mix up his lines, shifting Barclay Goodrow up to center the second-line, while Filip Chytil was bumped up to the first power play unit.

Strome’s absence hurt the Rangers at both 5-on-5 and on the power play, with the Blueshirts going 0-for-3 on the man advantage after the midway point of the second period.

The good news, however, is that Strome “should be fine to go tomorrow,” per Head Coach Gerard Gallant, and that’s great news on a number of fronts.

Lineup depth

Being a skater down for the entire third period clearly hurt the Rangers as they were on their heels the whole time, and it also forced Gallant to break up what is a very effective fourth line with Goodrow moving up to center the second-line.

While Kevin Rooney would have provided more toughness should he have been needed, Strome’s expected availability for Game Four means that the tenacious Goodrow can remain on the fourth-line.

It also takes away the potential need of having to break up The Kid Line, a line that only had four shifts in the third period on Sunday due to Strome’s injury and the amount of penalties taken.

This lineup has got the job done consistently for the Rangers this postseason, and having Strome available for Game Four is huge in the sense that Gallant won’t be forced to alter the balance of his team.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 03: Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning makes a save against Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers during the second period in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on June 03, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 03: Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning makes a save against Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers during the second period in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on June 03, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

Power Play

The same goes for special teams.

Strome has a key role to play on the man advantage and, while the Rangers converted twice on the power play in the second period, they went 0-for-3 the rest of the way and that inability to take advantage cost them.

Part of the problem was having to bump Chytil up to the first power play unit, weakening the second unit in the process, and not having Strome available to help provide a net-front presence and take right-handed draws hurt.

Strome has won 42.25 percent of his face-off draws in the postseason, and he does a great job of ensuring that Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin are open to do what they do best on the man advantage.

ELMONT, NEW YORK – APRIL 21: Andrew Copp #18 of the New York Rangers (C) celebrates his first period natural hattrick against the New York Islanders and is joined by Artemi Panarin #10 (L) and Ryan Strome #16 (R) at the UBS Arena on April 21, 2022 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
ELMONT, NEW YORK – APRIL 21: Andrew Copp #18 of the New York Rangers (C) celebrates his first period natural hattrick against the New York Islanders and is joined by Artemi Panarin #10 (L) and Ryan Strome #16 (R) at the UBS Arena on April 21, 2022 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Chemistry

We all know the almost telepathic relationship that Strome shares with Artemi Panarin, and Andrew Copp has proved to be a perfect fit on the second-line with that pair.

The Rangers have largely gotten good performances from that trio throughout the postseason, and any extended period of time out for Strome would have weakened that second-line considerably.

And, while he has yet to record a point in this series, the forward has two goals and seven assists for nine points in these playoffs to go along with 37 hits and eight blocked shots while averaging 18:56 minutes of total ice time.

Basically, the Rangers are a better team with Strome in the lineup.

Panarin certainly benefits from having his running mate out there and, should Strome play in Game Four as now expected, then the Rangers will be much better off across the board in a crucial showdown.

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