The New York Rangers will be scratching both Brennan Othmann and Gabe Perreault on Saturday afternoon against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Othmann was held out of the lineup on Thursday night against the New York Islanders in favor of Juuso Parssinen.
While Peter Laviolette has seen flashes of promise from Othmann, he wanted to insert another center into the lineup with Mika Zibanejad playing on the wing and Jonny Brodzinski on the Rangers’ first line alongside Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck.
“He's had some games where he's been really noticeable,” Laviolette said of Othmann. “He's a good young player. Again, it's decisions based on the lineup – on what positions need to be filled... I needed a 4th centerman.”
As far as Perreault’s benching goes, Laviolette just feels that Brett Berard has been better as of late, which factored in his decision to play Berard over Perreault.
“I thought Berard played a really good game two games ago, and so we decided to come back with him... Then he played another great game,” Laviolette said.
Laviolette confirmed that he won’t make any lineup changes on Saturday afternoon.
