The Vancouver Canucks will have to face the New York Rangers without their most prominent ex-Ranger in the lineup.
J.T. Miller has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the team for personal reasons, leaving the Canucks without one of their top-six centres. Even more than that, the Canucks could be without Conor Garland, whose wife is expecting the birth of their first child. Garland has arguably been the Canucks' most consistent forward this season.
For a team already missing top players like Brock Boeser and Thatcher Demko, this will be a tough test for the remaining Canucks.
"It means other guys gotta step up," said Elias Pettersson. "It's going to take a whole team effort tonight and moving forward."
Beyond just the talent they bring to the table, Miller and Garland have often been the emotional leaders for the Canucks. Their absence will have an effect both on and off the ice.
"He's our 'eff you'," said Rick Tocchet about Miller, adding, "I'd like to see five or ten per cent 'eff you' from our other players tonight. Everybody can supply it...That's how you make up for it in the short term."
The shorthanded Canucks will face a difficult opponent in the Rangers, who are once again one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They're a high-scoring team, who are currently 6th in the NHL with 3.56 goals per game, but they're also stingy defensively, allowing the third lowest rate of goals against at 2.38 goals against per game. A big reason why is their special teams, as they're top-ten in the NHL on the power play and top-five on the penalty kill.
Of course, knowing how hockey works, this game could be a predictable blowout win for the Rangers or an emotional blowout win for the Canucks or anything in between. The Canucks could rally or collapse — neither would be surprising.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
It's tough to predict what the Canucks' lines will be without knowing for certain whether or not Garland will be in the lineup.
That said, based on how they took the ice for Tuesday's morning skate, here's what the lines are likely to be if Garland plays:
Without Miller, Pius Suter will centre the second line, potentially between Dakota Joshua and Garland.
Danton Heinen has put together two very good games after being demoted to the fourth line, so he gets bumped up to a third line with Teddy Blueger and Jonathan Lekkerimäki that could play some big minutes.
If Garland doesn't play, it's likely that Nils Höglander will move up the lineup. Otherwise, he'll remain on the fourth line with Aatu Räty and the called-up Arshdeep Bains.
The defence pairings are expected to remain the same, though there's a possibility that Vincent Desharnais will draw into the lineup if Garland isn't available. Desharnais, however, has been "banged up" according to Tocchet and may not be ready for game time. With that in mind, it's possible that the Canucks will simply dress 17 skaters instead of the usual 18.
The Canucks' starting goaltender will be Arturs Silovs, who looked very good in his last start against the Chicago Blackhawks, though the Rangers will be a tougher test.
New York Rangers projected lines
Artemi Panarin has been unstoppable, with a ridiculous 10 goals and 24 points in 16 games. That he's still only 12th in NHL scoring shows just how absurd the start of the season has been for some players.
Here are the Rangers' projected lines, which are unchanged from their 2-0 win over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday apart from their starting goaltender:
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Reilly Smith
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafrenière
Will Cuylle - Jonny Brodzinski - Kaapo Kakko
Adam Edström- Sam Carrick - Jimmy Vesey
K'Andre Miller - Adam Fox
Ryan Lindgren - Jacob Trouba
Zac Jones - Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
The Rangers' starting goaltender will be Igor Shesterkin, which is actually a break for the Canucks. Jonathan Quick has been incredible as the Rangers' backup, winning all four of his starts with a .970 save percentage and 0.91 goals against average.
Shesterkin has also been quite good but a bit more beatable, with a .914 save percentage. Still, the Canucks will have their work cut out for them finding the back of the net.
