Rangers projected lineup: Mighty Panthers provide final test before trade deadline
TARRYTOWN - The Rangers' final game before Friday's 3 p.m. trade deadline should be a doozy.
They'll enter play Monday with a six-point cushion for first place in the Metro Division and the Eastern Conference's second-best points percentage. And they'll be hosting the only team in front of them for the No. 1 seed, the Atlantic Division-leading and defending conference champion Panthers.
"They do everything well," New York coach Peter Laviolette said in advance of the 7 p.m. puck drop against Florida at Madison Square Garden. "They’ve got good goaltending. They play good defense. They’re capable of scoring goals. They're aggressive – fast and aggressive. They check quickly. They put a lot of people in front of the opposition's net. They do their best to defend that area in their end, and so I believe that leads them to a lot of success. But they do play the game fast and physical."
With three quarters of the NHL season in the books, no team has separated itself as the clear Stanley Cup favorite. But the Panthers, who defeated by the Rangers by a 4-3 score in their previous meeting on Dec. 29 in Florida, are looking like the toughest competition in the East.
They have talented horses up front, led by Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart, with Reinhart ranking as the league's second-leading scorer with 42 goals through 61 games played. They have a big, mobile D corps, led by one of the NHL's most complete defenseman in Aaron Ekblad. And they have a two-time Vezina Trophy winner and playoff-tested goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky, who's having his best season in at least five years.
Trade deadline: For a change, Rangers not pressed for defensemen
It's not just about the names, though. The Panthers have unearthed the blend of skill and grit that's necessary to achieve postseason success, with clearly defined roles throughout the lineup.
The Rangers can match their star power, but they're still searching for the balance part of the equation.
The most obvious discrepancy is their reliance on one line to generate much of their five-on-five offense. The trio of Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière has been a revelation, with that line responsible for all three goals in Saturday's 4-3 shootout loss in Toronto. They're averaging 3.52 goals per 60 minutes on the ice together, according to moneypuck.com, while the Blueshirts' other go-to line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Kaapo Kakko is way down at 1.46.
"We've talked to Mika and his line," Laviolette said. "I think that there's a want to do more, as well, and so those are the things that we work on. We look at video. We talk. We try to come up with a game plan. You’re talking about great players. I'm confident that they'll find their way."
By comparison, Florida's two most-used lines are producing at very similar rates. Reinhart, Barkov and Evan Rodrigues have posted a 4.17 GF/60, while Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe are at 3.81.
It should be noted that the Kreider-Zibanejad combination, which has seen at least five different right wingers this season, is outscoring opponents by a 34-22 margin, according to Natural Stat Trick. Defensively, they grade out as an effective unit. But to hang with the best teams in the league, it's fair to say that the Rangers will need more out of them offensively.
Zibanejad has been the driving force of that line for years, but he hasn't scored a five-on-five goal in over two months − a stunning span of 29 games.
"It's a long year," Laviolette said. "Over the course of the year, there's going to be peaks and valleys for everybody. You’ve just got to continue to work through."
Asked specifically if he's considered splitting up Kreider and Zibanejad and placing them on separate lines, the coach replied, "Not at this point." But he quickly followed by noting, "Everything is always subject to change."
They'll remain together Monday night, with the only lineup tweak coming in the bottom six. Laviolette swapped centers on his third and fourth lines, inserting Barclay Goodrow in between Will Cuylle and Jimmy Vesey while placing Jonny Brodzinski in the middle of the towering rookie pair of Adam Edström and Matt Rempe.
The assumption is that the Cuylle-Goodrow-Vesey unit will be used to matchup against one of Florida's top-two lines, with Kreider, Zibanejad and Kakko likely drawing the other. They've done an admirable job of slowing down the opponent's best forwards − excluding Saturday, when that trio was outshot by the Maple Leafs, 11-2 − but they must take some scoring pressure off the Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière line for the Rangers to reach their full potential.
There's a very good chance the Blueshirts' two longest-tenured players will have a new RW by the time they play their next game on Saturday against the visiting St. Louis Blues, but it's a stretch to assume that one trade addition will suddenly flip the switch for the entire line.
It will take a collective push to unlock their stagnant offense, with Laviolette intent on giving them every chance to do just that.
"There has been chemistry with them in the past," he said of Kreider and Zibanejad. "I believe we have the right people together."
NY Rangers (40-17-4) projected lineup: Game 62 vs. Florida Panthers (41-16-4)
When: Monday, Mar. 4 at 7 p.m.
Where: Madison Square Garden
TV/Radio: MSG Network/98.7 FM
Forwards
Top line ⊳ Chris Kreider (LW) ⋄ Mika Zibanejad (C) ⋄ Kaapo Kakko (RW)
Second line ⊳ Artemi Panarin (LW) ⋄ Vincent Trocheck (C) ⋄ Alexis Lafrenière (RW)
Third line ⊳ Will Cuylle (LW) ⋄ Barclay Goodrow (C) ⋄ Jimmy Vesey (RW)
Fourth line ⊳ Adam Edström (LW) ⋄ Jonny Brodzinski (C) ⋄ Matt Rempe (RW)
Defensemen
Top pair ⊳ K'Andre Miller (L) ⋄ Jacob Trouba (R)
Second pair ⊳ Ryan Lindgren (L) ⋄ Adam Fox (R)
Third pair ⊳ Erik Gustafsson (L) ⋄ Braden Schneider (R)
Goalies
Starter ⊳ Igor Shesterkin
Backup ⊳ Jonathan Quick
Long-term injured reserve: F Filip Chytil (upper body) and F Blake Wheeler (lower body)
Healthy scratch: F Alex Belzile and D Zac Jones
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rangers lineup: Panthers provide final test before trade deadline
