The Rangers meet the Hurricanes under very different circumstances than the playoffs last year. New York comes in with their core and confidence shaken due to their recent struggles and swirl of news around the team. Carolina, on the other hand, is 6-3-1 in their last 10 and 15-5-1 on the season, just a point out of first in the division and conference with three games in hand on the Devils.
First,
possible lines tonight, though these are not set in stone. Chris Kreider and Filip Chytil remain out. Matt Rempe was sent down, that means Jonny Brodzinski is back in. I am expecting no changes on the blue line pairing, but god knows I hope there are. (Update: Lindgren is back with Fox and Miller with Trouba. Sure as heck can’t likely be any worse than what we have seen lately)
Panarin - Trocheck - Lafreniere
Cuylle - Zib - Berard
Edstrom - Kakko - Smith
Vesey - Carrick - Brodzinski
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Jones - Schneider
Shesterkin
Quick
On Wednesday,
Kreider spoke to the media. Normally a bit taciturn, Kreider opened up, though his comments weren't as revealing as the headlines and tweets sent out before the columns posted made them out to be. That doesn't mean he wasn't forthcoming and honest and spoken from the heart, but earth shattering news was not part of his comments.
The two big "takeaways" were his
injury and his view to the trade rumors and swirl around the team. On why he is sidelined now, per Colin Stephenson, the comments were unprompted and not made in response to a question posed, which means he did not have to say a word. In addition, as the NHL is reticent to give out any info, especially the Rangers, being this forthcoming is a major rarity. Though it's possible the topic might have come up. If the constant back woes this season are a concern, some speculate that he did so to minimize trade interest since a winger whose game is partially augmented by his speed, has less value if he lacks that speed. Plus, his burst down the wing has been non-existent this year, possibly adversely affected by the back.
“Back spasms,” Kreider said after an optional morning skate, before the Rangers faced the Hurricanes on Wednesday night. “Back locked up on me — sacrum. Few games back it was lumbar [spine, the lower back made up of five or six vertebrae that support most of the body’s weight and allow for movement] and then during training camp it was thoracic [the chest, or the part of the body between the neck and the abdomen]. Very independent, annoying things. So we’re working on it. Done a couple things to remedy it so it doesn’t happen anymore.”
Kreider touched on both the
trade rumors and feel of the team in the locker room. For the former, basically he said, it sucks, he doesn't like it, as a professional you have to put those feelings aside and do your job. You may not like it, but muscle memory should take over and guide how you play.
“Shouldn’t trivialize someone’s feelings, but how you feel doesn’t affect your ability to do something that you’ve done for the entirety of your life — unless you let it,” Kreider said. “There’s guys in here who will say there are games where they come in and they feel great and they don’t play well. There’s games where they’re under the weather, they’re sick, maybe they’re a little banged up and all of sudden the puck is following them around. Body knows what to do, just got to do it your own way and let it do it.”
“Yeah. I mean, there's always conversations … regardless of what point we're at in the season, about a bunch of different things,’’ he said. “Obviously, that's between me and the general manager and the coach and my linemates, my teammates and the training staff, right?’’
The team, as Kreider said below, is certainly in a
bit of turmoil. Not admitting that would be foolish and viewed poorly by most. Not that you have to embrace it, but finding a way to dig out from under and using that negativity as fuel to move forward is the best way to manage the situation. Kreider didn't spin it or sugarcoat it or try to pass it off. He admitted that it's there and the only way to get rid of it is to find a way to get back to where they are supposed to be and change the narrative.
“I think it’s pretty obvious there’s frustration, angst, tension,” Kreider said of the feeling in the Rangers locker room. “Good. We’re 20 games in. Let’s go through this s–t now and figure out who we are. We had the best regular season in the history of an Original Six franchise last year, won a Presidents’ Trophy and didn’t go as far as we would’ve liked. We’re getting exposed right now. Our warts are out there and teams are picking on the things we don’t do well and we’ve gotten away from the things we do do well.
“We don’t necessarily know what this is right now, right? This could just be part of the story. We look back at this and say, ‘This made us better.’ ”
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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