The Rangers dispatched president Glen Sather, assistant general manager Jim Schoenfeld and pro scout Gilles Leger to Ottawa on Monday to check out the Canadiens-Senators match.
Alex Galchenyuk, Montreal’s 23-year-old natural center with top-six potential who was on the fourth line against the Senators just as he was against the Rangers on Saturday, could have been a person of interest to the front-office triumvirate.
But the Blueshirts also like Montreal’s Andrew Shaw, the abrasive 26-year-old forward who can play both center and wing and who plays an edgy, abrasive game unlike anyone currently on the New York roster.
It appears as if the four forward lines and two of the three defense pairs will be rearranged on the deck of RMS Rangers for Tuesday’s match at the Garden, with the Ryan McDonagh-Brendan Smith blue-line tandem the only combination left standing for Vegas.
When Alain Vigneault was asked if he were reasonably pleased with his top matchup pair, the coach was measured in his praise of the Badgers.
“For the most part,” he said of the pair that has been intact for four games. “They’ve played some hard minutes against good lines and for the most part they’ve been all right, but I do expect more from Ryan both offensively and defensively, and I know he’s got more to give.
“Smitty has been a work in progress. He has been getting better.”
McDonagh, according to naturalstattrick.com, has played 57:19 at five-on-five with Smith; 39:48 with Marc Staal; 34:37 with Kevin Shattenkirk, 13:34 with Nick Holden and 7:43 with Brady Skjei. The captain has five points (all assists), with a team-leading 53.5 Corsi and even rating — not counting empty-netters.
It appears as if Holden, who regressed to his 2016-17 late-season state in Saturday night’s 5-4 defeat in Montreal, is in line to be scratched against the Golden Knights. Steven Kampfer, paired in practice with Staal, would step in for the first time since Oct. 10 and for his third game overall while Skjei and Shattenkirk form the second pair.
Jimmy Vesey did not get on for the final 25:22 Saturday, benched following the Max Pacioretty rebound goal at 14:38 of the second period that gave the Canadiens a 4-2 lead. Linemates Kevin Hayes (3:49) and Jesper Fast (3:37) had their time reduced in the third period.
“I watched video [before practice],” said Vesey, who played 7:31 against the Habs and will skate with David Desharnais and J.T. Miller on Tuesday. “Obviously I could have been in better position on some plays and played better.”
Tuesday marks the end of an October schedule in which the Blueshirts played 10 of their first 13 at the Garden, and have been able to only win three (3-4-2) at home. The Rangers have a pair in Florida against the Lightning and Panthers beginning Thursday, before three straight at home against the Blue Jackets, Bruins and Oilers starting Nov. 6.
Since current divisional alignment and playoff structure went into effect in 2013-14, two teams with eight points or fewer in their opening 12 games — the 2013-14, 3-9-0 Flyers and the 2015-16, 3-7-2 Ducks — have qualified for postseason, per @hockeystatminer.