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Rangers embracing challenge of tough schedule: ‘Good for us’

With three games left until the eight-day All-Star break, beginning Monday night against the Panthers at the Garden, the Rangers have been playing like they’re somewhere between their sluggish start and their convincing turnaround. 

The Blueshirts are a respectable 6-3-2 since the holiday break, collecting 14 points while remaining in third place in the Metropolitan Division standings. Barely outscoring opponents 29-27 over that span, the Rangers may have been steady, but they’ve certainly identified areas that are in need of improvement

Things could be worse, as the Rangers know, but things could also be better. 

In their previous four games, the Rangers have only scored two goals at five-on-five. Their top power-play unit is 1-for-22 in the last seven games. To say the offense is sputtering would be appropriate, yet the Rangers have somehow made it work despite their struggles to put the puck in the back of the net. 

The Rangers have one of the toughest second-half schedules in the league. Of their 36 remaining regular-season games, the Rangers will only face four teams with point percentages under .500. They play the Canucks and Blue Jackets twice, in addition to one last matchup with the Senators and Canadiens. 

Ryan Lindgren
Ryan Lindgren is embracing the Rangers’ tough schedule.
Getty Images

“I think that’s good for us,” Ryan Lindgren told The Post of playing in a tight division. “Makes us not take any games off.” 

Whether the team is out of sync or clicking on all cylinders, the day-to-day line changes have been the constant for the Rangers all season. They’ll take the ice Monday in another new variation as Gerard Gallant continues to nail down his “perfect” lines — and the latest alignment includes the trademarked Kid Line. 

“I think the kids play well together, I think they’re comfortable together,” the head coach said when asked if he feels like he can always go back to the arrangement of Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko. “Sometimes, for me, they pass the puck too much. They’ve got to get confidence shooting the puck. Kaapo’s got a great shot, Laffy can shoot the puck, Fil’s a skilled player. Sometimes, when they’re playing on different lines and they try and get too fancy or they try to get Chris Kreider the puck and [Mika] Zibanejad the puck, when they’re in shooting areas. 

“We tell them every day, every day at practice, ‘You’ve got good shots, have confidence in your game, shoot the puck. We need more people shooting the puck and you young kids are good goal-scorers.’ That’s what you’ve done in juniors, that’s what you’ve done in college, wherever you played. We want them shooting the puck and more confident. 

“I love seeing the kids when they play well together. We’ve changed the lines a lot, as you know, this year and more than we’ve liked at times, but I think it’s a good combination. Hopefully, they’ll play real well together and hopefully I can keep my lines together.” 

Between the Kid Line and the reunion of the Super Line of Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, Gallant is clearly trying to spark the Rangers offensively. He even left it up to Panarin and Kreider, who are both naturally left wingers, to determine who was going to skate on which wing. 

Based on practice, it looked like Kreider was going to line up on his off-side on the right, while Panarin will remain on the left. Those three have only logged 21:58 together, according to Natural Stat Trick, but they’ve outscored opponents 2-0 and the offense could use the jolt.

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