Gerard Gallant met with the media on Saturday following Ranger practice and said (NYR):
- Was there any kind of focus or message to the team, “No, be ready for the next game. They had a day off yesterday and like I said, it was a tough third period, but we’ll move on and get ready for the next game.”
- Are there lessons to learn or was this an aberration, “I’m not concerned about it. I was concerned the other night and not happy, but we’re not going to play that bad in a period again, so we’ll move on.”
- Are you making any lineup changes, “we’re considering today, we’re not sure what we’re going to do yet obviously, but we wanted to see practice and how things went and obviously there are two possibilities, but we’re not 100 sure yet and that is honesty.”
- Do you need to find a spot to get Kravtsov back in, “yea, it’s all timing. We like him, he worked hard and the same with Libor, too. It’s tough on guys when they are playing up, but when the team is playing really well and off to a good start you don’t like to mess around with a lot of things. I’ll see what is going to happen, talk with our coaches and see today what we think about our lineup for tomorrow and, again, I’m not disappointed with either guy, you can only play 20 and we’ll see what is going to happen.”
- Kravtsov is fully ready to play, “Yep, he’s cleared.”
- Do you sense he is frustrated after only getting a minute or so before getting hurt, “I don’t sense any frustration, he’s probably real anxious and wants to play, there is no doubt about that, that is with everybody. Sammy Blais hasn’t played many games, he wants to play and play more minutes and it’s a good problem to have and I understand Kravy wants to be a good player, but sometimes you gotta wait your turn and when you get it, take advantage of it. I feel real bad for him, he had a good camp, he played a minute and ten seconds in the first game and gets hurt. It’s not always easy, but you are a pro and we’ve played five games and there are 77 left, is that right? (laugh) You gotta get ready and when you get a chance, take advantage of it. Whether it’s tomorrow or in the near future and, again, we’ve only got one extra forward right now and one extra D.”
- What have you seen from Blais so far, “he’s been fine. It’s not easy missing 10 or 11 months and he’s come in and done okay. He hasn’t had any big minutes, he’s had a couple of physical shifts, but he’s trying to catch up a bit, but he’s fine. I’m happy with him.”
- What are you looking for from Kravtsov, “Show that skill, show that talent. Like we tell all of our players, it’s about doing the right things with the puck, managing the puck at the right times. It doesn’t have to be a highlight play every time you make a play, sometimes you just dump it in the corner and make a simple play and change. Don’t try to have too many turnovers and when you get your opportunity make those plays and go hard to the net and shoot some pucks.”
- On Panarin, Trocheck and Lafreniere finding chemistry, “yea, except the third period the other night. (laugh) Again, they’ve played really well, so I’m happy with our top two lines, obviously, with the chemistry and skill level there. We’ll see what happens and if Kravy gets in we’ll see where he goes.”
- How do you balance the offense trying to make plays without sacrificing the defensive end, “that is the makeup of our team. We’ve got a lot of skill and a lot of talent and you want to let those guys play their game, but they also gotta know. Again, I just talked about it with Kravtsov what we just said, you manage the puck well and do the right things with the puck and when you do that defensively it makes it so much easier offensively, so usually you get your good scoring chances off a turnover from the other team and that is why you gotta play good defense too. I’m not harping on guys laying down and blocking shots every shift, I’m harping about coming back and working hard every shift, make them turn pucks over, that is when you get your opportunities and we just didn’t do enough of that the other night. It was one period, you move on.”
The lines used today at practice were (Stephenson):
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- Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Kaapo Kakko
- Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafreniere
- Jimmy Vesey/Vitali Kravtsov, Filip Chytil, Barclay Goodrow
- Sammy Blais, Ryan Carpenter, Ryan Reaves