7 PM: Gerard Gallant spoke after practice today and said (NYR):

• Are the guys comfortable when you switch lines during the game, “Yea, I mean…fortunately for us we haven’t had a lot of injuries, long-time injuries, thank god for that. I’ve played a lot of guys in different spots and they feel comfortable, they’ve got no issue changing lines up once in a while. Sometimes it’s a little boost, sometimes it doesn’t work out, but I don’t see any issue with it at all, I really don’t. Especially with Kreids and Panarin going up there with Mika, it’s not a big deal.”

• On Jimmy Vesey, “I thought his last game was his best game, I really like the way he played last game, he made some great plays, played a physical game, too, 2-3 good hits. I just liked the way he played. His hockey IQ is real good and I thought his last game was his best game since I’ve been coaching him.”
• It seems like Vesey thinks the game really well, “it’s a big part of it and if he played every game like the last one then I’d be real happy (smile) and he knows that. He came off the ice and I think pretty much everybody played 14-15 minutes and he did a good job, played really well with those guys.”
• On Goodrow being on the fourth line, “He’s on the fourth line, but he’s not a fourth line player in my eye. That is saying something about our team, that is a good thing to have. I didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be on the fourth line playing there at times, but I don’t think he’s a fourth-line player. When I’m looking at my card and I’m saying ‘Goodrow is on your fourth line,’ that is a good problem to have some nights.”
• How does he handle it, “Goody comes and plays, he’s not going to complain about nothing. He wants our team to win and when trades happen people get slotted into different spots. Tomorrow night he might be on the first line, that is the way it goes, the way I move guys around in different spots. He knows he’s a valuable guy to me and he’s known that from day one. We’ve put him in different situations, killing penalties, late in the hockey game he’s always on the ice, he’s an important guy.”
• Are Trouba and Miller interchangeable on the PP, “Interchangeable and sometimes they get too cute and Troubs is out with the big shot at times. It depends on who we are playing a little bit, but it more depends on the group, what they are doing the first or second time through. Troubs had a lot of PP time early and Key is getting a little bit of it. We’ll see where it goes, Key’s been a real good player for us, obviously.”
• On Niko Mikkola, “I saw him play in St. Louis a lot, when we played against them, when you watch games at home some nights. I’ve always liked the guy, he’s a big, strong guy. He’s not going to carry the puck up the ice and lug it and try to beat guys one-on-one like K’Andre, but I like him defensively, he’s physical, he’s strong, plays the body a lot and moves the puck okay. We like what we got, for sure. In the d-zone I really liked what I saw and, again, I haven’t seen a whole lot here, but the games he played in St. Louis, the games he played against us, he was physical, makes it hard to get to the net and that is what we like about him.”

6 PM: For the past two days at practice, the Rangers have been using the following lines (Stephenson):

• Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Vladimir Tarasenko
• Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Jimmy Vesey
• Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko
• Barclay Goodrow, Jake Lesychyn, Julien Gauthier/Vitali Kravtsov

The PP Units were (Stephenson):

• Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Filip Chytil and Adam Fox
• Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafreniere, Vincent Trocheck, Vladimir Tarasenko, K’Andre Miller

Lafreniere and Trocheck swapped spots on the PP and Trocheck is now at the net. (Staple)