Bruins at Rangers … It’s Go Time!

Game 7

Bruins at Rangers – 8 PM NBCSN, 98.7 FM ESPNNY

No poll after the game until I can figure out how, if I can ever figure it out.  This is clearly a half-assed venture. Feel free to list your three stars in the comments and I’ll do my best to aggregate them into a list.

Tonight’s probable lineup for the Rangers (4-2), as per Steve Zipay (@stevezipay)

Jimmy Vesey-Derek Stepan-Rick Nash

J.T. Miller- Mika Zibanejad-Mats Zuccarello

Michael Grabner-Kevin Hayes-Jesper Fast

Brandon Pirri-Oscar Lindberg-Josh Jooris

Ryan McDonagh-Nick Holden

Marc Staal-Kevin Klein

Brady Skjei-Dan Girardi

Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich remain day to day. Buchnevich seems closer to returning, with tomorrow a real possibility. More on what this means for the roster going forward in the review tomorrow.

With all defensemen healthy, Clendening and McIlrath are Prucha’d.

Lundqvist in goal tonight, which means it’s likely we see Antti Raanta tomorrow night in Charlotte.  Under AV, they typically make a goaltending change on the second game of a back to back when they travel between the two games.  Additionally, I think they would want a rested Lundqvist Sunday against Tampa Bay.

For the Bruins (3-3), a lot of injury concerns already, especially in goal.  Starter Tuukka Rask and backup Anton Khudobin are both out, leaving the Bruins with prospects Malcolm Subban and University of North Dakota alumnus Zane McIntyre carrying the load between the pipes.  In what can surely be described as a dark pants moment for fellow Bonehead Siouxperman, McIntyre gets his first career start tonight after Subban was shellacked by the Wild last night. McIntyre made his NHL debut last night in relief of Subban after Subban gave up 3 goals on 16 shots in the first 30:36.  Over the second half of the game, McIntyre gave up an additional 2 goals on 17 shots.

Beyond the pipes, it was announced today that David Backes had surgery to remove the olecranon bursa from his elbow. Austin Czarnik was recalled from Providence, but it’s unclear if he will be in the roster tonight.

On a personal note, thank you so much for joining me here. If I can make this blog even half as good as Carp’s, I’ll be pretty damn proud.

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