New York Rangers

Game 73: NYR-NJD, Rangers kick off stretch of 10 games left in New Jersey
March 21, 2017, 9:14 AM ET [318 Comments]
Jan Levine
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Ten games left. The long regular season is in the home stretch, though for the Rangers, home may not be the best word to use as it clearly has not been sweet. No wins in their last six contests at MSG, since February 19, and a 19-15-3 mark at home has left the team and its fan base scratching their heads. With just four of their remaining 10 contests left at home, there isn't much time to figure out how to cure what ails the team while wearing the blueshirts.

Fixing that aspect of their game will have to wait until tomorrow against the Islanders. Tonight, it's beating New Jersey on the road kicking off another of their four consecutive back-to-back contests in March. The lineup tonight will be the same as Saturday, meaning the Kid Line of Jimmy Vesey-Oscar Lindberg-Pavel Buchnevich remains intact. While the back line also stays the same, changes could be forthcoming shortly.

Dan Girardi (ankle) and Kevin Klein (back) each practiced Monday. While neither will play tonight or tomorrow both have been medically cleared to return. That means either or both could play Saturday at LA or Sunday at Anaheim.'as those two games are back-to-back and another road contest looms Tuesday at San Jose, resting other blueliners likely is the right call. Especially as the magic number to clinch a playoff spot is just seven and New York seems all but certain to stay in the seventh spot in the conference.

The same logic needs to apply to re-inserting Henrik Lundqvist in the lineup. Lundqvist, out since March 7 with a strained hip, practiced fully on Monday. There is no way he should play tomorrow against the Islanders and won't be in the lineup tonight. Lundqvist, who was to miss 2-3 weeks, could get back in against LA, then sit versus Anaheim and play against San Jose. Another option is to sit him Saturday, then have him play Sunday and Tuesday in order to reestablish his usual routine, which would align with the playoff format of game, day off and game. Antti Raanta has been solid in place of Lundqvist. If Lundqvist starts six of the final eight games of the year, that puts him at 57 contests for the year, in line with the 55-58 number thrown out by AV before the season started.

The goals should be lock up a playoffs spot, then clinch the seventh seed. During this team, work on deficient areas, especially the penalty kill, which has regressed mightily the past month. Experiment with line combinations, both for forwards and defensemen, for a few of these games. With about three games left, focus on chemistry, aligning the pairings to mirror what should be used in the postseason.

Ten games left, then the real season begins.