Nash Reunited With Brassard And Zuccarello
Since returning to the lineup two games ago after a 20-game absence due to injury, Nash had been skating on a line with Eric Staal and Viktor Stalberg. That threesome did plenty of good things in the back-to-back games this weekend against Detroit and Pittsburgh, but head coach Alain Vigneault said Tuesday that the more prudent thing to do was to reunite Nash, Brassard and Zuccarello, who have had long-running success as linemates.
"That's one of the reasons I've decided to put (Nash) back with those guys, he's had the most success with Brass and Zucc and we need to get him going, so we're sort of going back to the well," explained Vigneault. "Those guys have all played well together. It's not an ideal schedule with all the back to backs for (Nash) to find his rhythm, but that's what we have here, so I figured it's best to put him back with the guys he's had good success with."
This move also reunited Zuccarello and Brassard, who were split up earlier in the month because the coach was not happy with their collective defensive play. However Zuccarello does lead the team with 53 points on the season and Brassard, who has a team-high 25 goals, is second in scoring with 51 points, giving Nash the chance to find his scoring stride while playing with the club's top two offensive producers.
"This late in the season, for sure you want to find the right chemistry between players and lines," Brassard told BlueshirtsUnited.com after practice. "You want to feel good about yourself and your game and the team game. no matter who you are playing with."
Vigneault also had Eric Staal centering J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes--who played only five minutes in Sunday's loss to the Penguins after being benched midway through the game--at practice Tuesday. Staal has played seven games as a Ranger and produced two points, a goal and an assist both produced in a 6-4 loss to the Islanders more than a week ago.
"I think that it's important that even though we have big guys coming into the lineup--with Rick and Eric--we still need the same kind of push from everybody else no matter what the coaches decide the lines are going to be," stated Henrik Lundqvist. "I think we have that kind of group where we have guys that feel they can be that guy to score a big goal or make a big play. You need to keep that mindset even with some important guys coming back into the lineup."
Derek Stepan, who is riding a five-game point-scoring streak (2-5-7), centered a line with Chris Kreider--who has five goals in his last nine games--on left wing and Jesper Fast on the right during practice.
The fourth line consisted of Viktor Stalberg, Dominic Moore and Tanner Glass. Vigneault indicated that should Glass--who sat out Sunday's game with an upper body injury--be healthy enough to play then Oscar Lindberg--who skated in Nash's spot during practice--would be the healthy scratch against the Ducks.
"One of the reasons why I put Viktor on the fourth line was to balance my four lines a little bit better because we have three games in three and a half days," explained Vigneault. "I'm going to have to play four lines. I didn't do that last game, but I prefer a fourth line of 9-10-11 minutes because I've always believed we have a better pace, better tempo when we do that. That's why Viktor goes there. He gives us more stability up and down the lines."
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Vigneault stated that Antti Raanta would start in goal to open up the road trip Wednesday night, and that Lundqvist would then start Thursday against the Kings in Los Angeles and Saturday afternoon in San Jose against the Sharks.
"You can feel the intensity increase now," said Lundqvist. "This is an important time of the year, though it's equally as important to keep your focus on the small details and not on the bigger picture."
BlueshirtsUnited.com
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