The Rangers began their first trip of the season with two games in Pittsburgh, starting Friday night, before heading to Buffalo for two more.
“Obviously, when you have a crowd in the building, it changes the whole dynamics of the game, I think it will make a little difference,” said coach David Quinn on Wednesday. “But, fortunately, one of the things we did very well in the second half of the year, we were a very good road team. If we can continue this trend that we started last year. “
Before the coronavirus pandemic suspended the 2019-20 regular season last March, Rangers had set a record of 10-1-1 in their last 12 away games. In the condensed schedule of 56 games this season, Rangers are expected to play 28 times on the road.
Although the NHL has realigned divisions to reduce travel, many protocols have been put in place to limit players’ interactions not only with the public, but also with each other. Capitals were fined $ 100,000 on Wednesday after a group of players gathered in a hotel room without wearing face shields.
Shortly thereafter, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and Ilya Samsonov were placed on the league’s list of players who were not available to play or train according to coronavirus guidelines. Everyone will lose at least the next four games in Washington.
Quinn said the Rangers technical team handled the capital fines and reiterated the importance of following protocols on the road this season.
“Obviously we’ve dealt with what happened with Washington, we talked about it as a team [Thursday], “he said.” Certainly, when we get to Pittsburgh, we will remind them of the details and go through the whole protocol when we get to Pittsburgh too. “
Artemi Panarin accessed Instagram on Thursday to show his support for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, ahead of the planned protests in his home country this weekend.
The ward star posted a photo of Navalny, his wife and their two children, with a caption that translated: “Freedom for Navalny”.
A well-known critic of Russian President Vladamir Putin, Navalny was poisoned with a nervous agent in August and spent his recovery at a hospital in Germany. When Navalny returned to Russia on Sunday, he was immediately arrested and sent to a prison in Moscow, where he is expected to stand trial for allegedly violating the terms of his probation in a 2014 embezzlement case.
The Blackhawks’ defender and fellow Russian Nikita Zadorov reinstated Panarin’s pro-Navalny message on Thursday.
Igor Shesterkin will start on the net for Rangers on Friday against Penguins.
Brendan Lemieux, Brett Howden and Julien Gauthier did some repetitions as a fourth line in Thursday’s practice. But Kevin Rooney later replaced Gauthier and centered Lemieux and Howden, with Colin Blackwell in rotation.
“It’s a decision we haven’t made yet,” said Quinn on the fourth line. “Julien obviously shows a lot of great characteristics, he’s big, he’s strong, he knows how to skate. I just think he is still learning the NHL game, systematically, understanding certain situations, he puts a lot of time and effort into it. “
The Rangers assigned Morgan Barron and Matthew Robertson from the taxi squad to the AHL affiliate in Hartford. The Wolf Pack training camp is already underway.