The New York Rangers arrive in St. Louis hungry for an offensive breakout.
They are 1-3-2 in their last six games heading into Thursday night’s contest against the injury-depleted Blues.
New York has just 10 goals during the downturn and has been shut out twice, including 3-0 by the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
The Rangers controlled much of the game but couldn’t score.
“I thought we defended hard. I thought we controlled territory,” New York coach Mike Sullivan said. “We had a significant amount of O-zone time. The power play had a lot of good looks. We’re trying to solve it for sure, but is it a little bit concerning at this point? Yeah.”
The key to a turnaround, Rangers captain J.T. Miller said, is to “bear down” offensively.
“Like myself, I had chance after chance, I feel like,” said Miller, who has failed to score a goal in seven of his last eight games. “It’s just not enough. It’s not enough to my standard, it’s not enough to the team’s standard to just play well, outplay the other team and not bury your chances.
“We deserve better a lot of these nights, but that being said, we’re not bearing down and the other teams are. We’re kind of stuck. Win three, lose a couple, win three, and we are where we are. It’s very frustrating.”
Vincent Trocheck has gone 10 games without scoring a goal, former top overall pick Alexis Lafreniere has just one goal in his last nine games, and Will Cuylle has only three goals in his last 17 games.
The Rangers called up Gabe Perreault and fellow prospect Brennan Othmann from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Wednesday to refresh their supporting cast.
Jonathan Quick started in goal against the Canucks on Tuesday, so the Rangers likely will turn to Igor Shesterkin against the Blues. He made 19 saves when New York defeated visiting St. Louis 3-2 on Nov. 24.
Joel Hofer allowed three goals on 21 shots for the Blues in that game. He blanked the Winnipeg Jets 1-0 on Wednesday night while making his career-high fifth straight appearance, but Jordan Binnington could get the call against the Rangers.
With five forwards on their injured list with long-term ailments, the Blues had two newcomers in their lineup Wednesday night: Prospect Otto Stenberg made his NHL debut, and former Red Wing Jonatan Berggren made his Blues debut are arriving on a waiver claim.
St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said he liked Berggren’s playmaking contributions against the Jets, and he praised Stenberg’s defensive play.
“Some high-end passes (by Berggren), the backhand one, that’s high-end vision to send in (Dalibor) Dvorsky on the breakaway, the slip play he makes in the offensive zone to (Pius) Suter who almost stuffs it in on the weak side,” Montgomery said. “You can tell he has really good vision, supports pucks really well.
“I thought Stenberg was really responsible and good (in) puck support. His intelligence keeps the team connected. We don’t get too spread apart. He has really good habits. … He made some really good reads on our penalty kill and our D-zone coverage, too. So I thought it was a really good start to his career.”
–Field Level Media
