7PM: Patrik Nameth is not playing, Libor Hajek is in his spot.
Artemi Panarin will start with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, Alexis Lafreniere will start with Ryan Strome and Barclay Goodrow, Dryden Hunt, Morgan Barron and Julien Gauthier will be the third line and Greg McKegg, Kevin Rooney and Ryan Reaves remain as the fourth line.
2:26 PM: Morgan Barron was called up from the Taxi Squad and Jarred Tinordi, after clearing waivers, was sent to the Taxi Squad. (NYR)
12:43 PM: Gerard Gallant met with the media following the morning skate and said (NYR):
- Chytil and Kakko didn’t skate today, “they are not playing tonight.”
- Is Morgan Barron coming in, “we’ve got different options and whether we go with seven D or play the four lines, we will see. I’m sure, but you’ve gotta wait until the evening, things happen.”
- Is 7 D something you would consider, “definitely.”
- What are the benefits of 7 D, “well, if you got somebody banged up back there, that is what we think about all the time. I like playing 6 D, Murph likes playing 6 D, but if you got somebody banged up or you aren’t sure then you play 7 D and the three lines worked pretty good the other night, that rotation, can’t do that all year, obviously you tire your players out, short-term stuff.”
- Is there any concern about Kakko or Chytil long-term, “no, not long-term. Kakko is not going to play here for a little while, he’s week-to-week and Chytil is day-to-day.”
- Would you consider putting Panarin with Zibanejad and Kreider, “he might start there tonight and then we will see. Is it going to be long-term? Maybe, but probably not. We will see, mix and match the lines a little bit. It was obviously real good the last time, but it’s about our team, not one line. Whatever makes us better and it made us better last game and so we will see where it goes tonight.”
- Would you consider Panarin, Zibanejad and Kreider for a full game, “definitely.”
- You don’t want to spread out the offense, “not when it worked like last game. It depends how the other lines are going. In my opinion its been a pretty good year so far for our team, not all people believe that, but I believe it and things are going good and we’ve mixed and matched all year. I know the players have no issue with it, Chytil goes to RW and has no issue with it. We do different things and it’s all about trying to win.”
- On Goodrow being able to play all over, “It’s’ what he does. Kegger has been good too going into different spots, kill penalties, left wing, center. There are a few guys that do different things for us, but Goodrow has been outstanding, from Day 1 he’s been great for us.”
- Can Goodrow play defense, “I don’t know (laugh), probably a couple of guys, I don’t know if he can skate backwards. (laugh)”
- Do you have a defenseman that can play up front, “K’Andre can probably go up there with the way he skates and I’m sure Foxy could adjust up there if he wanted to. (Smile) You don’t think of those things, but I’ve done that before, Jon Merril in Vegas played LW and played real good for us. Jean-Luc Grand Pierre, back in my early days in Columbus, was a seventh defenseman and played RW and played really good. Some of those defensemen go up and get the chance to run other defensemen and they enjoy that, the forecheck. It’s not a long-term thing, but could you do it in a game? Yea, no issue.”
11:33 AM: Kaapo Kakko, who missed Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury, will be out week-to-week. (Stephenson)
Kakko has been placed on IR. (NYR)
Filip Chytil, who left Saturday’s game after the first period and didn’t return, is still being listed as day-to-day. (Stephenson)