Neil’s bit part was a total non-factor: Rangers’ Vigneault
New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault has been around the NHL a long time, long enough to have seen designated heavyweights come and go from the game completely.
Vigneault has also been around long enough to know when a question is coming. When asked on Monday whether the presence of Ottawa Senators winger Chris Neil had any impact on the Rangers’ 5-4 overtime loss in Game 5, he paused for several seconds before answering.
“I can’t believe a player playing two minutes and 26 seconds would have, at all, a factor on our group,” Vigneault said after the Rangers’ spirited noon-hour practice, held a day before Game 6 in New York. “And if it is (a factor), you don’t deserve to win.” Another pause. “That’s five shifts in 2:26, I think it was … I don’t see it.”
We know that the Senators have said the presence of the 37-yearold tough guy makes them feel a tad more secure, maybe a few inches taller.
On the surface, it does seem bizarre that he could have possibly changed anything in his ever-so-brief Game 5 cameo.
Here are the hard numbers: 2:26, five shifts, one hit, two minutes for roughing — wiping out a potential Senators power play for landing four or five punches on Tanner Glass — and a 10-minute misconduct. That’s all. The penalties happened three minutes into the second period and Neil didn’t play another second afterwards.
Yet the same questions about Neil drew a different response from Vigneault’s in the Rangers’ dressing room.
“Yeah, it did,” said J.T. Miller, who has spent the first five games of the series doing everything possible to rattle Senators captain Erik Karlsson. “The crowd was up on (its) feet when he stepped on the ice. Definitely it has its impact in some ways, but we’re not worried about that.”
Miller said there’s little question the Senators played more physical in Game 5 after getting pushed around at Madison Square Garden in games 3 and 4.
“It definitely felt like they had to respond and we expected that,” Miller said.
Glass — perhaps the player most responsible for the entry of Neil into the series, having taken liberties with Senators centre Kyle Turris at the end of Game 4 — smiled when the topic was raised. Whether he was under Vigneault’s orders not to fight Neil or chose to stay away, he declined a couple of offers in Game 5.
“He negated a power play, so that was good,” Glass said of Neil’s punches. “I wasn’t sure if he was going to play or not. He hadn’t played in so long. He’s like me in a lot of ways. You know what to expect from him. He plays hard.”
Glass suggested Neil’s presence on the bench could have altered the behaviour of his teammates.
“You saw some more physical play from them,” said Glass, who was on the ice for three Senators goals, including the game-winner.
“I don’t know if that’s because of Chris Neil or not. You saw Clarke MacArthur with a slash across the legs, you saw a few cross-checks from guys that you haven’t seen in the past, so, I don’t know. I think some guys got away with a little bit in that game, too.”
What started as a series where speed ruled completely has evolved into a rivalry with at least a few other subplots.
Remember that Vigneault threw Glass into the deck after the Rangers lost the opening two games. Senators head coach Guy Boucher responded with the Neil wild card in Game 5.
“The playoffs are a physical war,” Glass said. “You play seven games against the same team, physical play counts.”