Rangers at Flames … It’s Go Time!

Game 15

Rangers at Flames – 10:00 PM MSG+

First, I want to thank E3 who has graciously offered to review tonight’s game.  I still need to find someone else for tomorrow. Please volunteer. Clearly, this is an HAV.

Tonight is the start of four game road trip, three of which are in Western Canada, all in four nights. This is actually their longest road trip of the season, so I’m pretty interested to see how they respond after some lackluster performances over the past couple of weeks.

Tonight’s probable lineup for the Rangers (10-4):

Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Rick Nash

Pavel Buchnevich-Mika Zibanejad-Mats Zuccarello

Jimmy Vesey-Kevin Hayes-J.T. Miller

Michael Grabner-Brandon Pirri-Jesper Fast

Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi

Marc Staal-Brady Skjei

Nick Holden-Kevin Klein

Lundqvist gets the start.  Under AV, the Rangers typically switch goaltenders on back to backs when they travel in between the games, so I believe Raanta will start tomorrow against Edmonton.

Lots of line shuffling after some lackluster performances. It’s left wing musical chairs, with Kreider moving up to Vesey’s spot, Vesey down to Grabner’s spot, Grabner down to Buchnevich’s spot, and Buchnevich in Kreider’s spot.  The centers and right wings remain the same. Missing out on a seat is Oscar Lindberg, who together Adam Clendening, remains Prucha’d. Lindberg has been a healthy scratch for seven straight games.

On defense, Brady Skjei and Nick Holden switch spots.  This is a reward for Skjei as he was among the Rangers’ best defensemen over the past two weeks.  He has a six game point streak (0-7-7) I think Dan Girardi  may return tomorrow. returns to the lineup after sitting one game as a precautionary measure.

For the Flames, Canucks (5-9-1), the only way they win this game is if the Rangers give it away. The Flames are going to be without rookie Matthew Tkachuk, Lance Bouma, and Kris Versteeg.  I’m pretty excited for the opportunity to watch Johnny Hockey, American Hero.

Once again, 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.  After a couple of weeks, I can definitely say that this HAV will not even be a quarter as good. Sorry, folks. HAV.

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