4:41 PM: Gerard Gallant spoke this morning and said (NYR):
- Is Sammy Blais any closer, “He’s closer, we’ll see how he gets along today, he’ll do a little bit more shoving and pushing out there. Possibly for tomorrow, but not sure.”
- What do you want from Dryden Hunt, “Go in there and play well, play the same way you did last year, do your job. He played on all sorts of lines last year, so he’ll go in and we expect him to play well the way he always plays, just do what he does.”
- On Lafreniere on the right side, “He was good. Like I said, we all know he prefers LW, but he’s going to go to the right side and he’ll play well and do his job, but I thought the line played good, everyone played good the other night. Laf will adjust, he doesn’t care, he really doesn’t.”
12:52 PM: Igor Shesterkin will start tonight against Minnesota. (Russo)
Jaro Halak will likely make his Rangers debut on Friday against the Jets.
Dryden Hunt will come into the lineup for the injured Vitali Kravtsov.