4:19PM: David Quinn spoke after practice and said (NYR):
- On the PP, “one of the things we have to do a better job of is moving the puck when we are trying to figure out what to do with it. We need to manipulate the PK and move pucks quicker, playing a little bit of catch and get the looks that we want. We are holding onto it a little too long so we need to be quicker with our puck movement.”
- On Zucc and Buch, “looks like a full go for both of them.”
- On McQuaid, “he was feeling really good after yesterday’s practice so I will get a feel for his availability based on how he felt today.”
- What do Buch and Zucc add, “good hockey minds, move pucks quickly, play with pace, have had success with PPs before. It may take some time, we have to be patient, they have both been out for a while so I think everyone has to temper their expectations for what they will be able to do for us tomorrow night. They give us a pace, intelligence and when the dust settles and they get acclimated our PP will benefit from having them back.”
- “I would love to have some continuity and go with the same lineup and lines for an extended period of time, that would certainly help all of us.”
- On Lias Andersson’s development, “as I have said before, so much of that is individualistic and each guy has different needs. Some guys will benefit from staying here even though they may not be playing the amount of minutes, but it will help with their development and turn them into the player we think they are capable of being. Other guys need to go down and play 18-20 minutes a night as a forward. We are still trying to figure that out right now he is staying here and we will work with him to get him better daily and whether that is 10-12 minutes per game or 18 minutes in a game or he sits three in a row and practices hard and does extra stuff, that is something we will determine as we move forward.”
- Andersson will stay here?, “Right now that is the plan.”
- Some of what Buch and Zucc bring, “when you get two guys of their caliber, the players feel a little bit more confident. I think that has been a little bit of our problem, we haven’t played with a lot of confidence or swagger but I think that having two guys like that back in the lineup will give us some swagger and confidence.”
- On McLeod, “I think he is a couple of weeks away, 2-3 weeks away is what I would guess. He has started skating a bit.”
- On Beleskey, “he’s done some good things, he gives us that physical element. He’s played in the league, tries to do everything we ask him to do in our structure, I like his intentions. I think he is still getting back to playing at this pace.”
4:17PM: Mats Zuccarello spoke after practice and said that he isn’t dealing with any issues and has been feeling good the past few days. (NYR)
He said that he had never dealt with a groin injury before and thought at the beginning that he could just play through it.
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2:14PM: David Quinn noted today that both Mats Zuccarello and Pavel Buchnevich are likely to return to the Rangers lineup tomorrow night. (Stephenson)
Lias Andersson is possible to be scratched with the two returning forwards but Quinn said that he expects Andersson to stick with the Rangers for now. (Stephenson)
The lines used today were (Stephenson):
- Chytil, Zibanejad, Zuccarello
- Kreider, Hayes, Buchnevich
- Namestnikov, Howden, Fast
- Vesey, Strome, Beleskey
Marc Staal was skating with Neal Pionk, Brady Skjei with Tony DeAngelo and Freddy Claesson, Brendan Smith and Adam McQuaid rotated on the third pair. (Stephenson)
The PP units today featured Neal Pionk, Mika Zibanejad, Kevin Hayes, Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello in one group and Tony DeAngelo, Brett Howden, Pavel Buchnevich, Filip Chytil and Jimmy Vesey in the second group. (Stephenson)