Rangers defenseman Victor Mancini goes through the ups and down of pro hockey

EDMONTON — Victor Mancini was getting ready for practice with the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday, about to put his skates on, when he got the word.

“They told me, just pack your bag, go to your hotel, check out of that hotel,’’ Mancini said Saturday, after the Rangers’ morning skate, prior to their late game against the Edmonton Oilers. “It was crazy, just with the weather. [There were a] few delays, but, yeah, I ended up getting in to the hotel real late last night. About 3:30 [a.m.] is when I checked into the hotel.’’

Mancini planned to take a long pregame nap to get fully rested for the game, his first with the Rangers since Nov. 1. The 22-year-old defenseman was back in the lineup because Zac Jones, who had edged him out to claim the last of the six regular spots in the lineup, was out with what the Rangers said was an upper-body injury. The Rangers had sent Mancini down to Hartford on Nov. 13, so he’d only been gone for little more than a week.

Getting recalled so soon was something of a surprise to him, Mancini admitted, but Rangers coach Peter Laviolette saw Jones’ injury as an opportunity to get Mancini back in the lineup for a night. He could have plugged veteran Chad Ruhwedel into Jones’ spot, but preferred to have Mancini travel across the continent for a chance to play

“He didn't do anything to lose that[(roster] spot,’’ Laviolette said. “[Ruhwedel]'s a good defenseman for us. He's played well. But, you know, the way it came out of camp, we were going with Vic at the time [until Jones established himself]. We didn't just want [Mancini] sitting here doing nothing, so we sent him down to play games until we needed him again.’’

The 6-3, 229-pound Mancini, who came out of nowhere to win a roster spot in training camp, played nine games with the Rangers, and had a goal and three assists, before getting sent down. He scored a goal in his first game with Hartford and had that one goal in three games with the Wolf Pack.

“I got a good bounce on that goal,’’ he said, sheepishly. “I was looking for a backdoor pass, but definitely felt really happy that it went in the net.’’

Mancini, a fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft, whose dad Bob is from Seaford and is currently the Assistant Executive Director of Hockey Development for USA Hockey, said the Rangers told him when they sent him down to focus on what he was doing, rather than where he was. They wanted him to work on keeping his confidence level while handling the puck high, he said, and to work on continuing to make plays, playing fast, and defending hard.

While he was there, Mancini said his focus was to do those things, but he tried to keep up with what was going on with the Rangers.

“It's a balance of both,’’ he said. “Obviously I want to focus on just taking it a day at a time . . .  making sure that I'm doing all the right things in practices and in games, no matter where I'm at. But I also to keep track of where this team is and obviously supporting them in any way I can, no matter where I am. It’s been hard to stay up and watch the late night games being on the Pacific coast, but yeah, I like to keep up.’’

With Mancini, a righthanded shot, replacing Jones, a lefty, in the lineup, it meant the Rangers’ defense had four righthanders among their six defensemen. And that meant righthander Braden Schneider had to shift from his natural right side over to the left. Schneider played the left side in all nine games Mancini played before he was sent down, seven partnered with Jacob Trouba, and two with Mancini. He was paired with Mancini Saturday.

“I think now that I've kind of got a couple games to feel for it, it's -— obviously you're going to feel out the first few shifts and make sure that you're playing simple, and [skating] north,’’ Schneider said of playing the off side. “But I think once things get going and you get a feel for it again, it kind of comes naturally, and you start playing on instinct. And that's all it is.’’

 Notes & quotes: Jonathan Quick (4-0, 0.91 GAA, .970 save percentage, two shutouts) got the start in goal. Igor Shesterkin took a shot from Reilly Smith up high and left the morning skate briefly, but returned, though Laviolette said the plan had always been to start Quick, who has had shutouts in his last two starts, and Shesterkin getting hit in practice had nothing to do with the decision . . . Filip Chytil (upper body injury) skated with the extras again and did not play.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.