Rangers make changes ahead of Original Six matchup against Red Wings
Let's go, boys!
HockeyFeed
It’s an original six matchup tonight as the New York Rangers host the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden. Games like these always carry a lot of hype with them, even when both teams are struggling, as is the case at the moment. The Red Wings are a dismal 4-11-1 going into tonight’s faceoff, while the Rangers are a little better at 5-6-1.
18-year-old rookie Kaapo Kakko will be the youngest player on the ice for either team, and he’ll be looking to build off of his first ever multi-point night in New York’s last outing two days ago. Kakko, who had appeared to be struggling with the transition to the NHL earlier in the season, became just the third Ranger to put up multiple points in a night at 18 years old.
"He's playing with a lot more swagger right now," said head coach Dave Quinn following the team’s morning skate. “I think there's much more of a pace to his game. He's getting into battles as opposed to being around them. And usually when you've got that type of talent, when you do those things, you're going to be productive offensively.”
Unfortunately for the Blue Shirts, Mika Zibanejad will miss his fourth straight game with an upper body injury, and is expected to miss at least one more game. Henrik Lundqvist will get the start between the pipes.
On the Detroit side, Jimmy Howard gets the start in net. It has not been a great beginning to the season for the netminder. He’s 2-7-0 to start the year, with a 3.96 GAA and a .889 save percentage. His performance closely mirrors that of the team, as Detroit has just one win in their last 12 games.
It isn’t all bad news for the Wings. Their top line of Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha have combined for 42 points this season and they show no signs of slowing down. What the team really needs is some help at the blue line. However, both Trevor Daley and Mike Green are out of tonight’s lineup. Daley has been placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, while Green has an illness that will keep him on the sidelines for the game. Ex-Ranger draft pick Dylan McIlrath has been called up from Grand Rapids to take Daley’s place.
Here are the projected lineups for tonight:
New York Rangers
10 Panarin - 16 Strome - 17 Fast
20 Kreider - 72 Chytil - 89 Buchnevich
48 Lemieux - 21 Howden - 24 Kakko
38 Haley - 14 McKegg - 42 Smith
25 Hajek - 8 Trouba
76 Skjei - 77 DeAngelo
18 Staal - 23 Fox
30 Lundqvist
40 Georgeiv
Detroit Red Wings
59 Bertuzzi - 71 Larkin - 39 Mantha
72 Athanasiou - 51 Filppula - 73 Erne
67 Hirose - 81 Nielsen - 29 Perlini
8 Abdelkader - 61 de la Rose - 43 Helm
22 Nemeth - 17 Hronek
2 Hicketts - 74 Bowey
21 Cholowski - 20 McIlrath
35 Howard
45 Bernier