WHAT TO WATCH FOR RANGERS VS BRUINS, AV ON PRACTICE

W2W4: Rangers vs. Bruins 1.11.16

Who: New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins
Where: Madison Square Garden
When: Monday night at 7:00 PM
Watch: MSG Network beginning at 6:30 PM
Listen: ESPN-1050-AM and NewYorkRangers.com
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The Skinny:
Two teams with near-identical records trying to find their footing while jockeying for position within their respective divisions in the Eastern Conference face off Monday night at Madison Square Garden when the Rangers (22-14-5, 49 pts) host the Boston Bruins (21-14-5, 47 pts). The Rangers sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division, a tiebreaker ahead of the Islanders, at their mid-point of the 2015-16 season, while the Bruins are in fourth place in the Atlantic Division, though just two points behind two of the teams ahead of them in the standings--Montreal and Detroit--while remaining a single point up on both Tampa Bay and Ottawa. Needless to say that makes Monday's match up an important one for each team, both of which are coming off overtime defeats and having gone 1-1-1 in their previous three matches. The Blueshirts lost 4-3 to the Capitals in overtime Saturday, rallying from 2-0 down in the third period before letting a 3-2 lead slip away with six seconds remaining in regulation. To make the defeat even more sour, mere seconds before Alex Ovechkin skated through the Rangers en-route to the game-winning goal, Derek Stepan came within inches of ending the contest in New York's favor at the other end of the ice, only to be denied from point-blank range. The Rangers still gained a point in the standings, meaning they finished their three-game gauntlet of facing Florida, Dallas and Washington--three division leaders--in the past week having earned three of a possible six points. Now New York hosts Boston, a team that has been inconsistent, just like the Rangers. Chris Kreider will return to the Blueshirts lineup after missing two games with a hand injury, and he will skate on the left of Kevin Hayes (a goal and an assist Saturday) and Jesper Fast against the Bruins. It seems that rookie Oscar Lindberg, who started New York's comeback against the Capitals with his 11th goal of the season, will be the odd man out of the lineup Monday, meaning that Jayson Megna retains his spot after recording two points in his first two games since being recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Rangers are 3-2-1 in their last six games, and head coach Alain Vigneault believes his club has turned a corner and is headed in the right direction; while the Bruins are 2-5-1 in their previous eight contests and are clearly still trying to find themselves. Boston was defeated 2-1 in overtime by the Senators Saturday and the Bruins have now been held to two goals or fewer in five of their last eight matches.
Head To Head:
These Original Six foes will be meeting for the 639th time in regular season history Monday night, and for the second time this season. Back on November 27 at TD Garden the Bruins stunned the Rangers with two late goals to edge New York 4-3, the 289th regular season victory by the Bruins in this all-time series.The Rangers had secured a one-goal advantage midway through the third on a J.T. Miller goal, but Kyle Spooner tied it with as power play tally at 16:14 of the third and David Krejci netted the game-winner with 1:43 remaining in regulation. Oscar Lindberg and Rick Nash also scored for New York in that contest, and Miller finished with two points (1-1-2). Of the last 31 times the Rangers and Bruins have played, 23 of those games have been decided by one goal, including the contest on November 27. These two clubs will next face off on March 23 at MSG to close out their three-game season series.
Players To Watch:
Rangers-Chris Kreider: The Boston native returns to the Rangers lineup against the Bruins Monday night, and it will interesting to see if Chris Kreider is a bit rejuvenated after not playing in nine days. He has seemed to be very anxious to get back into game action this past week as he sat out two games due to a nasty cut on his hand; but Kreider also stated that he was going to be a student during Tuesday's contest against Dallas and Saturday's versus Washington, watching the game from above and trying to pick up a few things that he could bring to his game when he returned to the ice. A 21-goal scorer last year, Kreider has just six goals, 12 assists and 18 points so far this season. Prior to his injury Kreider has registered three points (1-2-3) in five games and six points (2-4-6) in his last ten matches. Those are positive steps in the right direction because the Rangers desperately need Kreider to jump start his offensive game in a big way during the season's second half. In ten career games against his hometown team, Kreider is without a goal and has managed just four assists.
Bruins-Brad Marchand: Boston's super-pest is back in the Bruins lineup after serving a three-game suspension for a clipping incident on December 29 against the Ottawa Senators which set off a near riot in that contest. Brad Marchand, ironically, returned Saturday night against those very same Senators, though in much quieter fashion as he not only did not take a single penalty, but he was held without a point nor a shot on goal while logging more than 20 minutes of ice time. Marchand is the engine that makes the Bruins go. He is among the most irritating players in the league to battle against, but he is also highly-skilled offensively, solid defensively, and with a work ethic that is hard to match. Marchand is tied for the team lead in goals this season with 15, putting him on pace for his fifth 20+-goal season and with a legitimate shot to out-do his career-high of 28 set during the 2011-12 season. His 56 penalty minutes are second most on the Bruins, and are just 39 shy of equaling his career-high of 95 which was established a year ago. Marchand is without a goal in his previous eight games entering play Monday, though when he does eventually score again there's a good chance the goals will come in bunches. So far this season he has had one stretch of five goals in four games and another of five goals in six games.

What Alain Vigneault said after practice yesterday about Kreider, Yandle and Lindberg

Alain Vigneault spoke with reporters following Rangers practice yesterday and said (NYR):

• On Oscar Lindberg being scratched tomorrow, "I haven't decided on the lineup yet. I have not, we practiced on D today because I wanted Kreids to get full rotations and I picked Oscar to play defense. I haven't decided yet on the lineup for tomorrow. I want to watch Boston's game last night against Ottawa. I will do that this afternoon and then decide what our lineup will look like."
• "There is no doubt that we are disappointed in the loss but there were some real positive signs in last night's game. It was hard fought by two teams that were battling real hard. Down by two against that team to be able to come back and get a lead, unfortunately there they made a good play on the tying goal and a great player won it for them in OT. We had two real good looks just before that. It's evident to anyone watching our team that we are taking positive steps in what we are doing defensively and offensively. That is what you need moving forward. You just gotta look at the standings to know that you gotta improve and get better and that is what we are doing a a team right now."
• On the Bruins, "they are a team that has been playing real well lately, real well on the road so we know that we will have our hands full. I think our guys are ready for the challenge and we will get another chance to put it on the ice tomorrow."
• On the carryover from the Stepan injury, "I think all teams right now, points are so hard to get, their focus and definitely our focus will be on what we need to do on the ice to have a good game. I think both teams will try and play real hard tomorrow."
• Will Raanta be available tomorrow, "we will know tomorrow morning. He came in today with a sore back, Timmy came in and was outstanding, could have been the first star today.We won't use Timmy if we need him tomorrow even though he was real good, we will find out tomorrow. His back kind of tweaked up on him, I don't think it's serious and that he should be able to skate tomorrow and back up tomorrow night."
• If not him does Hellberg come up, "I haven't talked to Jeff. I figured in talking to Rammer that Antti should be all right."
• On Chris Kreider, "he looked good today, medical staff said that he is good to go. I just gotta figure out with him good to go what the lines are going to look like. Like I said, I want to watch Boston's game first and then decide."
• On Oscar Lindberg, "I wanted four duos and I wanted four lines and I wanted Kreids to get some normal reps because he was cleared to play. I haven't decided what I will do with the lines yet. I kept the lines, except for Oscar, the same way as last night. I really want to watch Boston play back to back, see how they played last night and see what they did for lineup and then decide what we are going to do."
• On Lindberg's game, "I think he is like the rest of our group, he scored a big goal last night at a key moment, playing better at both ends of the rink. He is like the rest of our group, he needs to get better and he is getting better."
• On Kreider tomorrow, "he has to play to his strength. Anyone who has followed Chris Krieder and knows about the name and the player, you think about the speed, size and physicality that he can bring, puck protection and there is the type of player who needs to go into the tough areas to score goals and he is probably one of our best net front players that we have as far as screening the goalie and going into that area and causing trouble and we need to him to do that, when he plays to his strength he is a real effective player for us."
• On Keith Yandle, "here we try and use him more for offensive zone faceoffs and if we are down by a goal, like last night, and we need a goal, he will get more ice time. On the left side we have Mac and Marc Staal as two pretty good shut down defensemen who can go against top lines. His role is different, minutes might be down a little but it's still important minutes and he does a good job for us."