Panarin a Game-Time Decision as Rangers Travel to St. Louis

Panarin a Game-Time Decision as Rangers Travel to St. Louis – Pregame Notes

After suffering their fifth defeat in the past six games – the Blueshirts are in St. Louis for a matchup with the Blues (8PM on MSGSN).

Rangers	Rankings	Blues
16-15-4	Record	13-15-7
21st	League Rank	25th
29th	Goals For	31st
7th	Goals Against	30th
20th	Power play	19th
15th	Penalty Kill	24th

Rangers vs Blues

The Blueshirts are coming off their second straight defeat after being shutout by the Vancouver Canucks. This was the seventh-time this season the Rangers have been shutout – sixth on home ice
With the Rangers in search of offense – Artemi Panarin, the Rangers leading point scorer, is listed as a game-time decision as he is currently under the weather
- Panarin has played in every game so far this season
- In other news, according to Arthur Staple of the DailyFaceoff podcast, “Bit of smoke around Panarin that I am now hearing.”
  - Panarin is in the last year of his contract and is a pending UFA. Panarin will have full say where he goes if at all as he owns a full no-move clause. Popular destinations include Florida, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, and Anaheim. Anaheim has a ton of young assets and former teammates of Panarin including his former head coach in Joel Quenneville
  - Have to wonder if Panarin goes – if other players with term will be traded too including guys like Vincent Trocheck, Carson Soucy and Alexis Lafreniere
Gabe Perreault and Brennan Othmann will return to the lineup as the Rangers seek offense. Perreault and Othmann were recalled from Hartford with Brett Berard returning to Hartford
Igor Shesterkin will be back in goal for New York. Shesterkin sat in the last game as it was the second of a back-to-back.
The Blues are having as much struggles as the Rangers when it comes to scoring goals
- Robert Thomas leads the Blues in points with just 24 points in 31 games. Former Ranger Pavel Buchnevich is tied for third on the team in points with 17.
Jordan Binnington will start in goal for the Blues. Binnington is 7-8-5 with an .869 save percentage on the season. Binnington will be looking to go on a run as he will look to make and start for Team Canada in the olympics
Adam Fox has started skating with a team in a non-contact jersey. Fox suffered a shoulder injury, but this is a good step as his return nears. The earliest we can expect to see Fox is after Christmas
If Panarin is out of the lineup, expect the Rangers to abandon the five forward power-play unit on Thursday night. Scott Morrow would join the top unit and quarterback the top power-play as they look for a spark