So Miller replaces Palat amd Erne slides into the 4th line? I’d like to see KK paired with Gerardi and just promote Serge, Coburn to top 4
It will definitely be interesting to see the pairings. The top pairing will certainly be McDonagh and Strålman munching major minutes. We're very fortunate to have them as they'd be the top pair on many of the teams in the League. I feel a bit bad this season for Ranger fans who wanted to see more of that pairing while they were still both in NY. It's definitely a luxury to have a Norris winning #1aD, a superb #1bD and a solid #2D on the same team. Still hope Heddy gets back soon, though.
Coburn and Girardi had about the same TOI (around 20 min) last night with Sergachev playing about 16 minutes so I'll be very curious to see how much time Sergachev gets tonight. A lot will depend on special teams, of course. Coburn was actually very, very solid the last few games so he can probably handle second pairing minutes/duties for a short while. Cooper seems to like to have rookies/young players paired with vets so it might just be...
McDonagh/Strålman
Coburn/Sergachev
Koekkoek/Girardi
But if they're still limiting Sergachev's TOI and don't want to over play Koekkoek, we'll see some Coburn/Girardi shifts as well. Typical pair blenderizing after an injury.