The Rangers will take the ice for their first preseason game at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, when the Islanders come to town looking to start their 2022-23 campaign on the right foot after missing the playoffs last season.
Not only do these games serve as an opportunity for players to showcase themselves, but it’s an opportunity for head coach Gerard Gallant to play around with certain line combinations and defensive pairings to help him finalize his lineup come opening night on Oct. 11.
“The message is different for a lot of different players,” Gallant said Sunday at MSG Training Center. “Some guys don’t have to make the team, they know that. Other guys, play your tails off — the guys who are trying to make the team.”
A majority of the first group on the ice at MSG Training Center on Sunday will compete in the preseason-opening tilt with the Isles, Gallant said. The most notable players to watch in that group include Zac Jones, who is vying for the sixth defenseman spot, Ryan Carpenter, who is competing with Gustav Rydahl (also in Group 1) for the fourth-line center job, and Jimmy Vesey, who is on a professional tryout contract. Vitali Kravtsov is also part of that group.
Lineup staples such as Jacob Trouba, Chris Kreider, Kaapo Kakko, Braden Schneider, Filip Chytil, Ryan Reaves, K’Andre Miller and Mika Zibanejad were also in the first group. Gallant didn’t confirm the Rangers’ plan for goaltending, but it’s likely Igor Shesterkin and Dylan Garand will split the net Monday night.
“I got a pretty good idea what I like best right now, but we’ll see,” he said. “Things change day to day in this game. People get hurt. Some people play really well and makes you make decisions. But we have a pretty good idea, I do, what I’d like to see.”
Lane Lambert will be behind the Islanders’ bench as head coach for the first time on Monday.
“I’ve known him a long time,” Gallant said. “He was in my wedding. We’re close friends. He’s been an assistant for a long time, did a great job obviously with [Barry Trotz], in Nashville, Washington and then the Islanders. He deserves an opportunity.”
