David Quinn spoke on MSG after the loss to Ottawa and said:

• On what happened after the first 11 minutes, “just the way that first 11 minutes unfolded, you could feel it on the bench after we made it 1-0 that we felt this game was going to be a different type of game, that it was going to be easy. Really it was two different games, there was the 11-minute and the 49-minute game and unfortunately we played the 11-minute game instead of the 49-minute game.”
• Were you surprised at what happened, “no, I was actually a little concerned as the first 10 minutes were unfolding just because, I know what can happen and human nature can kick in, when you have youth you might think things will be easy. Give Ottawa a lot of credit, they upped the ante and it was almost like we were surprised that they were competing and skating and for 49 minutes we didn’t handle it well at all.”
• Did the fight change the momentum, “it could have, fighting can do that. I wish it would have inspired us a little more but it didn’t.”
• Did Ottawa do anything to take you out of your game, “no, like I said, it’s an NHL game, they want to win a hockey game, they were competing and battling and as the game went on it looked like we were getting upset that they were actually doing it. We’ve got to learn to handle these things. For two games we did it and this one we didn’t and it cost us severely.”
• Was Kakko a positive, “yes, very much so, he had a really good night. You can just see him play with a different level of confidence right now. He might have been the only guy who had a good night for us.”
• What impact did Brady Tkachuk have, “he’s an agitating player and we played right into his hands, that is all you can say. On top of being an agitating player he’s a really good player. This game is about managing emotions and not being distracted and we had a few too many guys get distracted.”
• On Georgiev, “not his best night.”

First Period:

• Kaapo Kakko (3) ASST: Adam Fox (2), Brendan Lemieux (3)
• Jean-Gabriel Pageau (4) ASST: Anthony Duclair (2)
• PPG – Tyler Ennis (3) ASST: Thomas Chabot (8), Vladislav Namestnikov (4)

Second Period:

• Ron Hainsey (1) ASST: Brady Tkachuk (4), Mikkel Boedker (1)
• Jean-Gabriel Pageau (5)
• Brady Tkachuk (4)
• PPG – Artemi Panarin (6) ASST: Kaapo Kakko (2), Tony DeAngelo (5)

Third Period:

• PPG – Vladislav Namestnikov (5) ASST: Connor Brown (10), Nick Paul (3)

Stats:

Adam Rotter:

• This was beyond frustrating because the Rangers looked like they were going to run Ottawa out of the building after dominating the first 10 or so minutes. Ottawa tied it, the Rangers paraded to the penalty box and just lost their structure, intensity and their way.
• Ottawa worked harder after the 10 minute mark of the first, they won battles, were quicker to pucks, blocked a lot of shots and frustrated and stymied the Rangers at every turn.
• It’s one thing to be out-played, out-worked and embarrassed by the Bruins as they are possibly the best team in the East, but to have that happen for 40-45 minutes against the last place Senators, that can’t happen if you have any designs on doing anything this season.
• It’s very possible that this is who the Rangers are, that they are a team that will play well for 2, maybe three games in a row, show promise and an upward trajectory and then throw in a stinker that makes you question who the real Rangers are.
• Henrik Lundqvist comes back in Wednesday, not that Georgiev was the problem tonight, Marc Staal will almost surely be back in for either Hajek or Lindgren and, most importantly, hopefully Mika Zibanejad returns.
• One thing the Rangers did last year, and what they did after the Boston game, was respond after poor outings. Hopefully the Rangers from the first 10 minutes and the past two games show up on Wednesday against Detroit because losing two in a row, to teams 30 and 31 in the league, will not be good for anyone especially with Carolina on Thursday.

12:51PM: David Quinn spoke on Monday and said (NYR):

• Same lineup, “yes, same lineup.”
• On players stepping up without Mika, “It’s really been a group effort, I think every guy has elevated their game to a level that they need to in order for us to have success, not only individually but collectively and you see the results.”
• On the young centers, “our three young centers have done a really good job the last two games, all three of them, Chytil, Howden and Lias have really played well. Strome, we’ve talked about him having a good start to his season. You put those three guys in and they are handed a lot of responsibility against two really good hockey games and them responding the way they have is a great sign.”
• On Fox and Hajek, “both of those guys come and work hard every day, play with enthusiasm, very coachable, two guys that have had a great pedigree. With Fox, the question was how quickly he was going to be able to adapt from a skating and competitive standpoint and that was easy and the thing I love about Hajek, he’s gotten better and better from day one this season. He had that stretch last season with five really good games and I just love the confidence he is playing with. He’s assertive, whatever he is doing he is doing it quickly and with conviction. He skates so well, he’s physical and he’s done a great job getting us out of our end.”
• Did Hajek just need to get comfortable, “I think so, a lot of times guys want to please people so badly. He gets here, he wants to do so well for his teammates, the coaches, organization and sometimes that can be a bit too much of a burden. Once he got over that and just started playing, you can see the progression that he’s made.”
• Has Hajek been more comfortable since Chytil returned, “I think he was trajecting that way anyone. I don’t think Fil coming here has helped him other than refresh his language.”
• On Mika’s status, “another good day today, still day to day and making progress.”
• Was there a chance he could have played tonight, “I don’t think so. Same drill for Tuesday, we will see.”
• Do you see higher confidence with Georgiev, “No, I don’t think that, his play last year was the turning point for him. We got two really good goalies. Hank and I talked yesterday, he understands, you see what has happened the past three games, this has nothing to do with Hank. Hank is someone we know we are going to ride heavily and play a lot of hockey for us. This is just more circumstantial than anything. As Hank and I talked about, Hank is going to have the games Georgie is having and he’s gonna play three in a row or four in a row. This is all part of the big picture, managing the amount of games Hank is going to play. It may be a big deal that he hasn’t played three in a row but when the dust settles and 82 games have finished, Hank is going to play a lot of hockey for us.”
• What is the plan for Marc Staal, “he’s going to get in. I’m not just saying this, we need him. Circumstances have not allowed him to get back in. The plan wasn’t to have him sit three, that is for sure but he will get back in.”
• On Ryan Lindgren, “he’s played well, done a really good job and doing the things he’s going to need to do to be successful in this league.”
• Why does still need to get back in, “because he’s a good defenseman and a big piece of what we have this year. He’s a guy that is influential in the locker room, a good player and the way things happened, he was the guy that came out after the Bruins game and we are just in this situation. We are going to need him.”
• Is there a plan to rotate defenseman, “no, six best play”
• Would you go with 7, “I’d prefer to stay away from 7.”
• Don’t you have 7 right now with Smith, (Laugh) “Smitty is a forward now, masquerading as a defnseman on the PK every now and then.”
• On the PK finding consistency, “I think we are going to be a good unit. I think we had two bad games this year killing penalties and I know they were 1 for 5 the other night, that is going to happen. I think we will have a good PK unit. We are young and still putting guys in roles and overall I know we are in the middle of the pack PK-wise but I think we are going to have a good PK unit. We’ve had two bad games on the PK.”
• Are you doing morning skates because you are winning, “exactly, but we didn’t have one against Nashville so we might have to throw that theory out the window.”

11:26AM: Mika Zibanejad will not play tonight against the Ottawa Senators. (Cyrgalis)

Zibanejad has been out since last Sunday with an upper body injury but he skated on his own yesterday and was on the ice at the beginning of today’s morning skate.

Alexander Georgiev will make his third straight start, Marc Staal will be scratched and the Rangers will use the lineup that has won the past two games.

3:47PM: David Quinn spoke on Sunday and said (NYR):

• “It was our first real road test and with a chance to win a hockey game, the third period, to me showed an awful lot of what we are made of right now. We had some great chances to make it 3-1, I love that we didn’t sit back, we played smart hockey. They went from the 14 minute mark of the third period to the two minute mark without having a scoring chance. With two minutes to go they got probably a B level chance that I might have been able to save. I really liked the fact that we weren’t playing on our heels, we were on our toes, playing smart, aggressive hockey. We had three glaring chances to make it 3-1 and those two kills at the end, under some adversity, was a great sign.”
• On Nashville having their push early in the third, “they had the PP and a couple right after that and weather the storm and I thought we really had some momentum swings in our favor and did a good job of playing on our toes, playing smart, aggressive hockey.”
• On Chris Kreider, “I’ll you right now, that might have been his best game of the year. The goal we get, Chytil’s goal, he does a heck of a job with our transition defense, they sort out the initial rush, everyone gets back in the middle. Libor Hajek has a great stick but Kreider makes a read coming back into our end, we go the other way and he blows by three Nashville guys and because of his net drive Chytil is able to make that great play. He was all over the ice, I thought that was Chris Kreider’s best game of the year.”
• On the 21 and under players staying on the ice after practice, “we’ve been talking about this as an organization, not only do we feel very good about them as players but as people and their work ethic and drive and coachability and all the things you are going to need to have success in this league. They enjoy each others company, they work hard and hockey and love being out there and we have to take them off because there is a game tomorrow and we are going through a stretch where we are going to play a lot of hockey. There is an awful lot to like about these guys.”
• On those players and this season, “listen, we just beat Buffalo, Tampa and Nashville, we didn’t beat Rye High, White Plains junior high school, we played three really good hockey games and won. Georgie played well but he didn’t steal those three games for us, we played good hockey for 60 minutes, on top of them, had more scoring chances than our opponent, kept scoring chances to a minimum. I think that should make our guys feel really good about what we need to do and a blueprint of what we need to do to have success. I’ve mentioned our schedule a few times, I thought our schedule was a problem for us, not only because we didn’t play a lot of games but those first two games, we won in a fashion that I didn’t think we were going to be able to win consistently. After that Ottawa game we sat around telling each other how great we were and how we would win hockey games and I think it took us a little while to shake that feeling and we needed to get slapped around a little bit to realize that if we are going to have success it’s not going to be that way.”
• On Kakko feeling better about his game, “I’ve noticed a lot of improvements, skating a little faster, a bit more physical, quicker to pucks, quicker to battles, smile on his face. I thought his last two games were good.”
• On Chytil, “the first thing is confidence. He went down to Hartford with a great attitude, didn’t sulk and moan and went down and got better. It’s a great example for anybody in his shoes when training camp ended. He went down, right from the get-go, right from the first practice, every report we got was how good he was. It’s hard to get confidence in this league when you are 19-20 years old, all of these guys equate confidence and success to points. He went down there and worked on what he had to work on to have success offensively here. Defensive zone standpoint, forecheck standpoint, tracking standpoint, he’s doing things consistently and winning wall battles which was an issue for him last year. When you are confident you are more willing to get into battles.”
• Will Georgiev play tomorrow, “yes.”
• On him starting three in a row, “he’s played very well and Hank and I talked today, it’s going to happen to Hank too. Hank has played well, it’s not that he hasn’t played well, it’s just we have a little bit of mojo going and Georgie has benefited from us playing well in front of him, Hank and I talked about that as well. Hank will play Wednesday.”

12:33PM: Alexander Georgiev will start for the third straight game on Monday against the Senators. (Stephenson)

Henrik Lundqvist will start on Wednesday against Detroit. (Stephenson)

11:18AM: The Rangers have announced that Mika Zibanejad skated on his own prior to practice this morning. (NYR)

David Quinn spoke on MSG after the game and said:

• On the game, “I was curious to what would happen today and we all felt very good about what happened against Tampa, a complete 180 compared to what was going on against the Bruins, but there was a different feel. I was optimistic and felt pretty good about what we would see tonight and I thought it was a continuation of what we did against Tampa. I thought our pace was good, we had gaps all over the ice, great scoring chances to make it 3-1 but couldn’t do it, our PK was huge down the stretch and just a gutsy effort.”
• On Georgiev, “he was really good but I really think it was a team effort, our D-corp played well, our forwards were good, up and down the lineup we had good efforts.”
• On faceoffs, “we beared down, I thought Brett Howden had some huge faceoff wins down the stretch. I thought they were handing us our lunch in the first 40 minutes but we buckled down and did a much better job winning those draws which was huge in the last 2 1/2 minutes.”
• On defending the lead, “we did a good job in the third, I thought the game got a little squirrly at 2-0, I thought we kind of abandoned what we were doing to get our lead and got a little sloppy and took too many risks and I thought that we settled down after the second period, did a good job killing that period to start the third. We were playing the right way, I think that is why were getting those chances in that stretch where we ended up getting on the PP. We had 3 or 4 great chances to make it 3-1 and I thought we did a good job playing the game in front of us and opportunities came.”
• On carrying things over after the loss to Boston, “I think that plays a little bit of a role in it but I think there is more clarity on what we will have to do to have success. Winning feels good, these last two nights have been a lot of fun.”
• On Chytil, “Fil has come back and played wit ha purpose and pace and I love his intentions. He’s always had the skillset but there is a different element to his game since he went down to Hartford. He’s been playing like a second line center.”
• On Strome, “Strome has had a good year, not just since Mika has been out. I wanted to strangle him after that penalty at the end of the second period but he’s had a really good year, done a lot of good things killing penalties, on the PP and I like a lot about his game right now.”
• On Strome and Panarin developing chemistry, “it certainly seems it. I thought Artemi had another good night too, played well but this was a team effort. We can talk about a lot of guys tonight but this truly was a team effort.”
• On Georgiev’s strong start, “I think the end of last year played a role, I thought he played a lot of good hockey in the second half of the season. He’s a guy that works very hard, over the summer he worked on some of the things we asked him to work on, he’s had a really good start.”
• On possessing the puck a lot, “There was a lot of things I liked about tonight, I think it was a continuation of what you saw against Tampa, we did a really good job east/west of getting on top of the play, the small areas with foot battles and foot races we won them and when we did get to a battle we were engaged and it allowed us puck possession. The third period, where Fil had that quick little breakaway, that was all about playing the right way and being above the puck and hounding it and we got rewarded offensively for it.”
• What is working on the PK, “we changed our forecheck a little bit tonight, that being said they did get a PP goal but our kills in the third period, three of them, were huge. They were decisive, aggressive when we need to be, good sticks, cleared pucks and great goaltending.”