Rangers return to what worked earlier this season
Rangers right wing Kaapo Kakko is congratulated by Alexis Lafrenière after the third period of an NHL game against the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 30 at Madison Square Garden. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
GREENBURGH – The formula and logic were simple. Things have not been going especially well for the Rangers over the last month. So Peter Laviolette went back to what had been working for a little bit at the start of the season.
It’s not a case of hoping his team can catch lightning in a bottle. Rather, the thought process is that sometimes to go forward, you first need to take a step back.
“A couple days of practice and guys working together, you’d like to think that it can have some positive impact on the game coming up,” Laviolette said after the Rangers’ hour-long practice at the MSG Training Center on Wednesday.
The Rangers (13-10-1) – without rookie Brett Berard (upper body, day-to-day) and Artemi Panarin (maintenance), who skated on their own – worked on close-quarter battle drills and counter-attacking off neutral zone turnovers.
“Good practice. Good pace. We got to get back on track,” Filip Chytil said. “It’s still a lot of work ahead of us. Today was another day where we push each other, we play hard every drill, battle every drill and we got to get back.”
Their first chance comes Friday night at the Garden against the Penguins, who are likely to see essentially the same Rangers lineup as the one that authored a 6-0 season-opening win on Oct. 9 in Pittsburgh.
“We know what we need to do as a team,” Sam Carrick said. “It helps when you have some chemistry with linemates, maybe just for your confidence and knowing where certain guys are at certain times.”
To that end, Laviolette reunited Chytil with his regular linemates, Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko. The top line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Reilly Smith was reformed, while Carrick centered Adam Edstrom and Jimmy Vesey on the fourth line. The only line that experienced a change was the second line as Jonny Brodzinski filled in for Panarin.
Defensively, Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox were the first pair, followed by K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider. Zac Jones and Jacob Trouba formed the third pair.
Lindgren and Vesey did not play in the rout of the Penguins because of injuries.
Of all of the player personnel changes, the reformation of the Cuylle-Chytil-Kakko trio may be the most significant since the line has been the team’s best over the course of the season. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the triumvirate has outscored opponents, 11-0, in the 135 minutes and 22 seconds they have been on the ice together, and have a 71-58 advantage in scoring chances for.
“I feel like we all know what to do out there,” Kakko said. “We’re making plays right now and getting chances.”
