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The mantra, of course, is one game at a time. And that is the way the Rangers will play them. But head coach Gerard Gallant is looking at the remaining four games prior to the team’s two-week break as somewhat of a matched set.
“I do, [the players] don’t, but I do, definitely,” Gallant said before the Blueshirts chartered to Columbus for Thursday night’s contest against the Blue Jackets. “Every game is a big game, but we’ve got four to that break and it would be nice to get some good wins for sure and set the tone for when we come back.”
The Blueshirts’ final three games before the break will be played at the Garden. The Wild are here on Friday for Henrik Lundqvist Night and the Kraken follow on Sunday afternoon before the Panthers are at the Garden on Tuesday in the Rangers’ final game until Feb. 15.
“You always try to push your team,” said Gallant, whose squad is 5-1 in the last six, 9-3 in the last 12 and 28-11-4 overall. “You’re in a good spot, but you just like to push it a little further.”
Libor Hajek will get his second straight game on the third pair after seven consecutive healthy scratches while Patrik Nemeth tends to personal matters.
Hajek got 11:15 of ice primarily skating with Braden Schneider in Monday’s 3-2 shootout victory over the Kings at the Garden as Gallant essentially cut down to two pairs for the final 14 minutes of regulation and the five-minute overtime period that was played exclusively at four-on-four after the Blueshirts’ power play expired at 46 seconds into the extra frame.
Schneider played two shifts for a total of 22 seconds over the final 14:21 of the third while Hajek got two shifts covering 56 seconds.
The Blueshirts used Schneider on a first-period penalty kill while Jacob Trouba was in the box.
“He’s going to be a Trouba; he’s a mini-Trouba right now,” Gallant said of the 20-year-old Schneider, who has played six games since his promotion two weeks ago. “That’s what the kid’s going to be.
“I like him a lot. He’s a young kid, getting better every game, plays a physical brand, has some skill. There’s a combination of a lot of good things there. He goes out there and makes very few mistakes.”
Though there was no update regarding Filip Chytil, who did not play on Monday and did not practice Wednesday because of an unidentified lower-body issue, it is unlikely he will play against the Blue Jackets.
Morgan Barron skated between Alexis Lafreniere and Dryden Hunt on the third line at practice while Barclay Goodrow took the spot on right wing with Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin, which is where No. 21 spent the final two periods of the victory over the Kings.
Barron, by the way, got a 53-second shift in overtime while alternate options Lafreniere and Kevin Rooney did not get off the bench during the extra five minutes.
In the dog-bites-man department, Gallant declined to name his goaltending rotation for the upcoming back-to-back.
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