Reeling Rangers feeling Derek void
Alain Vigneault called Derek Stepan one of his favorite players to coach, a player who understood the game well and had a great feel for the locker room.
Stepan’s absence has left a void as he wasn’t outrightly replaced and the Rangers are off to a self-inflicted 2-6-2 start. Vigneault, though, remains confident in the group he has.
“We know we lost an important part of our dressing room and our team, but we were looking at the future,” Vigneault said Wednesday ahead of Stepan’s Thursday return to the Garden with Arizona. “We feel we’ve added some good young pieces, but still believe in this group, still believe that this group is strong enough and good enough to get it done. And we’ve just got to go out and prove it, and that’s what we’re gonna try to do (Thursday).”
Vigneault mentioned Ryan McDonagh, Mats Zuccarello, Marc Staal, Rick Nash and his goaltenders Wednesday as players he needs playing to their full capabilities. The Coyotes (0-8-1) are the only winless team in the NHL.
“I need those guys to come up and not only compete, but make the plays that need to be made in situations — whether that be converting, whether that be throwing a puck at the net and then crashing in for those rebounds,” the coach said. “We need our top players to be on top of their game, and if we do that then we’re gonna be in good shape.”
Arizona has been allowing a league-worst 4.33 goals per game while Antti Raanta, traded along with Stepan, has missed two weeks with an injury. Perhaps that will help a Rangers team that has been struggling to capitalize on scoring chances.
They also wouldn’t feel so much pressure to score if they stopped falling behind in games within the opening three minutes. In a way, Mika Zibanejad feels, the fact that the Rangers have been done in by their own mistakes at the very least means they know their issues are fixable.
“I don’t think the opposing teams, not to take any credit away from their game or whatever, but I don’t think we’ve been outplayed in a way where we feel like ‘OK, they earned this or they did this so good,’” Zibanejad said. “We’ve been playing really well when we’re down and desperate and we’re really going, and we’ve got to find a way to trigger that right away.”
Thursday surely will be an emotional night for Stepan and some of his former teammates. Rick Nash, who is set to play in his 1,000th career NHL game Thursday, went through a similar situation returning to Columbus as a Ranger after spending nine seasons there.
“It’s gonna be weird. I’m sure a lot more weird for him,” Nash said. “I’ve been in his shoes before and it’s a strange feeling. I think we’ve got to respect and recognize what he’s done for this organization and the blood and sweat that he’s put in, in the regular season and playoffs. He’s a pretty special player and he was a tremendous Ranger.”
RANGERS vs. COYOTES 7:00 on MSG