The Rangers fell 4-3 in overtime to the Islanders on Wednesday. Mika Zibanejad tallied twice, assisted on both by Pavel Buchnevich, who posted the other goal, assisted by Zib, in the defeat. New York wraps up their preseason tonight in Philly where I expect the lineup to be comprised mainly of players who will be sent down to Hartford.
Yesterday’s lineup :
David Quinn’s postgame comments :
Overall, a sloppy game. The team is still adjusting to the defensive system. Right now, players are thinking, then reacting, rather than reacting. The good news is that after tonight’s game, the Blueshirts will have a week until their season opener. I expect the roster to get down to 23, plus Matt Beleskey and Boo Nieves, each of whom will be placed on IR And could against the cap, which will have about $3.4 million in available space (as Larry Brooks noted in his column today). With the regular roster, I expect practice to be focus on helping the players get more comfortable with the system with the shortened roster enabling more targeted practices.
A few interesting notes on the game from Larry Brooks today :
Coach David Quinn shifted Filip Chytil out of the middle onto right wing with Zibanejad and Chris Kreider during the third period after No. 72 had skated between Ryan Spooner and Mats Zuccarello through the first 40 minutes.
Brett Howden was on the first power-play unit with Kreider and Zibanejad up-front and Buchnevich and Kevin Shattenkirk on the points.
Jimmy Vesey struggled again and was limited to 13:14 including just two shifts over the final 11:12 of the third and the brief OT.
Interesting that Chytil and not Lias Andersson was moved to wing. To me, Chytil should remain as a pivotman, thanks to his creativity, with Andersson being the one who switches, if a change is made. The preseason is the time to experiment, which is what Quinn appears to be doing.
Nice to see Howden get a look on the PP. in Hartford, he should be on the first unit. So why not let him get his feet wet in the preseason.
If the season started today, I would have Vesey and Vladislav Namestnikov in the progress box as healthy scratches. Neither have played well and others are more deserving of spots in the lineup, let alone on the main 23 on the roster. Seeing how Quinn, and also management, handles this situation will be interesting as it may provide us with an insight into the relationship between the two and the view for the season overall. If playing Vesey and Namestnikov over lets say one of the kids or Lettieri, then salary and the players’ name may be more important than development, making everything that was said lip service at best.
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