6:33 PM: Igor Shesterkin is in net and Libor Hajek will play for Zac Jones. (MSG)
Vitali Kravtsov is skating with Filip Chytil and Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko is skating with Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere. (MSG)
12:17 PM: Gerard Gallant spoke after the morning skate today and said (NYR):
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- Will this be a reset for Shesterkin if he is in net tonight, “no, nothing to do with that. We make a schedule up and get it going and he was pretty disappointed in himself in the last game and he wants to get back in, whenever he gets back in, and play real hard and play well. I’m not worried about Igor one bit.”
- What are you seeing from Lafreniere’s game and him saying he needs consistency, “I don’t disagree, he tries hard, works hard, finishes his checks, no doubt he is looking at his numbers and saying that he shouldn’t have three goals, that he wants more than that and that is what we want from him too, keep playing hard, keep working hard, I talked about it a little bit the other day, about opportunities and he doesn’t get the same opportunities some of those kids that are ahead of him on other teams and that is probably a little frustrating too at times, but it’s the way our team is built. Just keep working hard and getting better, I’m not disappointed in him one bit, he’ll work hard, he plays a complete game, finishes his checks hard, he’d love to see the numbers better and so would we.”
- What can Lafreniere do more of at 5-on-5 since he isn’t getting the PP time, “we always talk to the kids about…our last game, we scored three goals from being in the blue paint, being at the net. On the outside, you need players there, that is where Bread plays his game and makes good passes, but we need more guys with simple plays to the net, Goodrow’s got six goals from being around the blue paint all the time and Kreider scores all of his goals from around the blue paint. You can score at 5-on-5, just gotta get in those dirty, tough areas.”
- Do you consider giving the other PP unit more time if the first one struggles, “Definitely. When it’s going real well you send it out there. Recently it hasn’t been scoring as much, still getting chances, hitting goal posts, but you always think about that, we talk about that for sure as coaches. You can mix it up and switch different guys in and make two real solid units also, we’re taking it day by day. We hope they score three tonight and keep it going.”
- Is there a temptation to bump Lafreniere to the top PP unit, “yea…then we gotta take somebody off it (laugh). There is probably enough skill and talent to go around to make two real solid PP units, these guys have been together ever since I’ve been here and for the most part they look real good.”
- On Kravtsov skating with Chytil and Panarin, “Kravy played really good last game. You gotta give him some opportunities, he got through the game healthy and that was a big thing. I like the way he played last game, so they’ll probably play together.”