"Grabs has been one of our best offensive players in the last few games, as far as getting chances and finishing," Vigneault said. "I just wanted to make a little tweak. Nasher's been getting some good looks and maybe with J.T. and Zuccy he'll be able to finish off a couple of those."
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Mika Zibanejad skated this morning but will be unavailable tonight against Los Angeles and Saturday when the Rangers take on the Bruins in Boston.
Vigneault said Zibanejad, who has missed seven games with a concussion, would need at least one practice at center before returning to the lineup.
"He's following the protocol," Vigneault said of Zibanejad, who practiced with the team as a defenseman on Tuesday. "He skated on his own yesterday. As far as I know - I haven't done a lot of checking there - he's improving. We've got a practice on Monday and he'll practice with us Wednesday."
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Los Angeles had its eight-game winning streak snapped Tuesday against the Devils in New Jersey, and Vigneault said a big reason for their success thus far under new coach John Stevens has been the Kings' ability to defend well.
"They don't give up a lot," Vigneault said. "I think they're No. 1 or 2 in goals against, they're No. 1 on the [penalty kill]. They're a team that is definitely playing some real good hockey right now. We're playing against one of the best teams at this time in the NHL. We're going to have to be at our best tonight."
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Rangers Projected Lineup
Chris Kreider - David Desharnais - Pavel Buchnevich
Rick Nash - J.T. Miller - Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner - Kevin Hayes - Jesper Fast
Paul Carey - Boo Nieves - Jimmy Vesey
Ryan McDonagh - Nick Holden
Brady Skjei - Kevin Shattenkirk
Marc Staal - Brendan Smith
Henrik Lundqvist