Final two preseason games will serve as dress rehearsals for Peter Laviolette, Rangers
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette looks on during practice in Tarrytown, N.Y., on Sept. 13. Credit: Noah K. Murray
GREENBURGH – They’ll be doing it for real in little more than a week, and so, for Peter Laviolette, these last two preseason games, Wednesday in Newark against the Devils and Thursday at home against the Boston Bruins, will serve as dress rehearsals, as the new Rangers coach tries to make sure everything is in working order in time for the Oct. 12 season opener in Buffalo.
“It’s kind of a last chance to look at some players and line combinations before we get going at the start of the season,’’ Laviolette said after Tuesday’s practice.
With the roster pared down to 26 (including goaltender Dylan Garand, who was called up from AHL Hartford Tuesday) the Rangers are almost down to their opening night roster. And so the group that faces the Devils Wednesday will be very close to the group that will face Buffalo.
“Now we're pretty much down to the gist of the group that we're going to have this year,’’ No. 1 center Mika Zibanejad said. “So I think, just playing with the guys and having everyone in the lineup, that would help to kind of get everyone together and having the feel of (the regular season).’’
An upper-body injury to center Filip Chytil is complicating the process of looking at potential line combinations but, Laviolette said, the time is now to start drilling down on the details of the offensive and defensive systems he is installing, both at even strength and on special teams.
“There's been a lot of practice, there's been a lot of people here,’’ the coach said. “Now it's trimmed down to (26). Now we're at a point where we can work on the power play, the penalty kill, the three-on-three, the four-on-four, more systems. (We can) bring it into these last two games, make mistakes, do good things, teach from that, and just keep working to try and get ready for the opener.’’
Judging by the last two practices, it looks as though Laviolette will experiment with a first line that has the team’s top two scorers from last season, Artemi Panarin and Zibanejad, on it, along with youngster Kaapo Kakko. And newcomer Erik Gustafsson, who’s drawn much praise from the coach so far in the preseason, apparently will get a chance to partner on defense with Norris Trophy runner-up Adam Fox.
Goalies Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick, who each played half a game in their first appearance and two periods in their second, will likely each play a full game in one of the last two.
Though these last two games still don’t count, the Rangers will want to play better than they did on Saturday, when they fell behind 3-0 in the first period, trailed 4-0 after two, and lost 5-3 to the Islanders, angering Laviolette.
“Preseason or not, there's a very fine balance of worrying about the result and worrying about the progress, especially now with a different system that I don't think a lot of guys have played,’’ Zibanejad said. “You still want to win, and get a good feeling at the same time.’’
Notes & quotes: Garand, who was sent to Hartford Sunday, was recalled in order to serve as backup on Wednesday … Laviolette said Alexis Lafrenière won’t play Wednesday. Though he’s played left wing the last two practices, Laviolette said he hasn’t ended the experiment of trying Lafrenière at right wing.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
