With the season on the line tonight, Gerard Gallant will have to make the most important decision of his coaching career in New York thus far. If you were able to catch any of the four playoff games, you’ve probably witnessed some incredibly poor defensive play on the Rangers’ behalf. A lot of the team has underperformed in various ways, Zibanejad has been invisible, Fox appears to be a shell of the all-star player he’s been, Gallant is being outcoached, and perhaps most impactful Shesterkin has finally come down to earth and appears to be human.
There is plenty of blame to go around as to why this team is on the brink of elimination, however, the thing is none of those above-mentioned issues are easily repaired by sitting one player.