Alain Vigneault announced that Henrik Lundqvist will start against the Sabres tomorrow.
Alain Vigneault worked on changing up line pairings today.
The following are the line combinations used:
Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey, Derek Stepan, Rick Nash
Michael Grabner, JT Miller, Jesper Fast
Pavel Buchnevich, Oscar Lindberg, Matt Puempel
On defense:
Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi
Marc Staal and Nick Holden
Brandon Pirri skated as a spare defenseman and could be possible scratch tomorrow in Buffalo.
Brady Skjei and Kevin Klein
Alain Vigneault spoke with the media on Wednesday after Rangers practice and said (NYR):
On last night, "if you analyze last night's game and I am one of the fortunate ones who will watch it once, maybe twice to break things down..you look at the game and our first period, we came out and we were good. I'm sure Hank would like to have back that first goal, it seemed to have eyes, maybe Nick could have blocked it, maybe Hank could have been out in front of the net more to block that angle. We played a strong period, a real strong third period. In the second period we had that five minute span where we gave up four scoring chances, all four went in the net but there is no doubt that we need to stop those kinds of breakdowns but we also need a timely save. That is what I mentioned last week and the week prior. That is what we got in Toronto and in Detroit, we are no different than any other team. We can't play a perfect game and when there is a breakdown or miscue or turnover you need your goalie to step up. Hank has done that many times in the past and we need him to do it. Once that happens it snowballs, we are playing well and getting chances and looks and maybe we capitalize earlier before the game is out of reach and start capitalizing in the third."
"I will say that, and it's what I love about this group, they are very accountable. No finger pointing and I am not pointing fingers at Hank or anybody. We are all in this together and all trying to find solutions. When things happen like last night and the first one is one we would like to have back and the third one is off the mitt and then it's 3-0 and the mind starts to think that you can't make another mistake. You don't want to play this game with that in the back of your head, you want to play on your toes and going North/South and attacking and making the plays that are in front of you, not forcing anything but making the plays that are there. I think that is what happens in those situations but again, you break down the game and how we played and it's not a perfect game but it's not a 6-4 game for sure. What we need to do is what we did today, the group came here to work and a lot of the guys were in the video room before, they were in pairs, our 35 minute practice was intense and right to the T of what we needed to work on and we are going to Buffalo and we will be ready and try to compete real hard."
"Right now it seems like we are giving up more goals at home then on the road. We don't play any differently. We are having more success on the road right now, I'm not concerned about home right now because tomorrow we are in Buffalo, I am concerned about Buffalo and then we will focus on home."
On the starter for tomorrow and putting Raanta in last night, "Hank is playing tomorrow...that was just performance based and it was time to put Antti in."
On the lines today, "I haven't had a chance to watch Buffalo vs Montreal, I will watch that on the flight but I would say that what you saw today is what you will see tomorrow."
On Marc Staal, "I thought it was alright. He had one practice with the team, skated a few times on his own. Timing and execution with the puck will get better and he had a real hard practice today."
On the lines being switched up, "trying to get something going, I'm just mixing up the candies trying to get something going and at the beginning, if you remember, Kreids and Mika had real good chemistry. Step and Nasher have always played well together. Trying to mix things up and it gave us a spark but we came up short."
On the lines for tomorrow, "I liked what I saw but am still giving myself the benefit of the doubt of watching Buffalo and their lineup and how they are playing right now. Kreids, Step and Zuccy have been our best and most consistent line for the last 20-25 games and breaking them up would not be easy but I am just taking one piece out and flip/flopping centers and Mika and Kreids have had success together. We will see after watching the tape what I come up with."
On breaks, "Having gone through these breaks and coming off a streak and going on a break and then coming back, you never know how your group will react. Hank was on a roll after a tough stretch and he doesn't get on the ice for 4-5 days and this happens last night. If you look at the body of work of this group, I am very confident. The way we are playing, I know that we have had some of these games but when I analyze it and break it down and look at it there isn't a lot of areas that I would really change. Just a couple of better decisions with and without the puck that would make us more solid for 60 minutes."
On timeouts, "I know that last night Torts called one, different scenario, still has a four goal lead. Because of now when you call the timeout, if you want a review on something and you have used your timeout, you can't use it anymore. It's like icings. In the past you would see a lot of coaches use their timeouts after icings and a lot of time now we are trying to buy a little time and standing up on the bench and some guys with more experience are coming to change their sticks. You need to be very careful when you use it because there might be something more serious down in the game where if you don't have it you are stuck. It depends on the situation."
On last night, "Off the bat, when we started on the PP and had those great looks, we needed that big goal, that timely goal and get rewarded for our effort. We didn't get either, the goal or the save."
It's not one thing, "the way we started last night and I have liked how we have started our games, a lot of times we are behind but if you look at the way we start and the momentum we generate, that PP last night we had 4-5 shifts in their zone and getting some real good looks. We needed a timely goal and timely save and they are such a huge part of this game."
No comments:
Post a Comment