Rangers defenseman Zac Jones making most of his opportunity

GREENBURGH-- Zac Jones stood with poise in front of the small semicircle of reporters.  

He answered questions thoughtfully and came off as self-assured.

What a difference a year – and confidence – makes.  

“It’s definitely nice to just go out and play, that’s for sure,” Jones said after the Rangers’ optional practice Wednesday at the MSG Training Center.

The 23-year-old Jones has been given an opportunity to play regularly due to top-pair defenseman Adam Fox suffering a lower-body injury in the Rangers’ 2-1 win over Carolina on Nov. 2.

Without Fox, who was placed on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) and will miss at least 10 games or 24 days as per the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, Erik Gustafsson was promoted from the third pairing with Braden Schneider to the first unit with Ryan Lindgren, and Jones was moved from the seventh defenseman to the third tandem.

Thursday night’s match against the Wild will mark the third straight game Jones and Schneider will play together.

The duo struggled in Saturday’s 5-4 shootout loss in Minnesota. According to data culled by the analytics site Natural Stat Trick, the Wild had a 21-10 advantage in shot attempts and scored a goal in the 12:59 when Jones and Schneider were on the ice.

However, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette believes the twosome – and Jones in particular – were affected by the collective defense pairings giving the Wild too much space in which to make plays.

“It was a tough game in Minnesota,” Laviolette said, in response to a question about Jones. “Tough for everybody. He probably wanted to have a better game coming in, and I thought he did that last night. I thought he had a real impact in the (Detroit) game.”

Indeed, against the Red Wings in Tuesday night’s 5-3 win, the pair finished with a 21-13 advantage in shot attempts in 10:42 of ice time. They were also on the ice for three goals for and two against.

“We were communicating well, moving our feet and making plays. We communicate with each other and make the simple play,” Jones said, when asked to analyze the pairing’s play against Detroit. “Sometimes we try to get a little too (aggressive) for offense and we’re trying to get up in the rush and contribute when we can, but sometimes taking a step back, make a simple play and go from there.”

Notes & quotes: Igor Shesterkin faced shots during the brief session, but Laviolette was non-committal when asked if the goaltender would be available against the Wild. “He’s certainly progressing in the right direction,” Laviolette said of Shesterkin, who suffered an undisclosed injury in the win against the Hurricanes. “... I have to see where he’s at. He doesn’t have any limitations today, so he’s a go today. I want to ... see how he responds to the day and we’ll make a decision" … Laviolette said second-line center Filip Chytil has not begun skating. Like Fox and Shesterkin, Chytil (upper-body) was injured in the game against the Hurricanes.