TAMPA — Adam Clendening’s station with the Rangers could not have been made more clear in light of coach Alain Vigneault’s decision to scratch the nominal seventh defenseman in favor of recent call-up Steven Kampfer for Monday’s match against the Lightning.
With right-siders Dan Girardi and Kevin Klein both sidelined, Clendening apparently has slipped to ninth on the depth chart following his difficult, minus-three night on Saturday in the Blueshirts’ 4-1 Garden defeat to the Canadiens in which the entire team was deficient.
“I’m a little bit surprised, for sure,” Clendening said after the morning skate in which he, Matt Puempel, Michael Grabner, Antti Raanta and Henrik Lundqvist participated.