It turns out that Pavel Buchnevich was not immune to the idiom of a “young player going through the process.”
The 21-year-old Russian is set to be a healthy scratch for the first time in his North American career when his team travels to Brooklyn to take on the Islanders on Thursday night at Barclays Center.
Buchnevich had missed 32 of the team’s first 42 games with a lingering back injury, but he had been in the lineup for the previous 14 games since returning Jan. 13.
“Buch had a so-so game last game,” coach Alain Vigneault said on Wednesday, referring to his team’s 3-2 victory against the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Monday night. “Part of the growing process of a young player.”
As far as what he wants to see from Buchnevich to get the team’s third-round pick (No. 75 overall) back on track, it’s pretty simple.
“I think right now, he’s got to make a couple plays with the puck,” Vigneault said. “He’s a skill player that has the ability to make plays with the puck, and that’s what we need from him.
“There is always a learning curve, and he’s going through it. Maybe the fact that he missed a lot of time, came back, was energized, so maybe there was a little dip there in the energy level. It’s one game, so we’ll go from there.”
Buchnevich had started Monday’s game back in the top six, but was returning to the fourth line after Vigneault noticed another rookie, Jimmy Vesey, having quite a bit more jump in his legs. It was a move that worked out, as Vesey scored the game-winning goal on a terrific individual play late in the third period.
“Pavel looked a little nervous on the ice with his puck decisions,” Vigneault said, “so I made the switch.”
Matt Puempel was set to return to the lineup and replace Buchnevich as the fourth-line wing with Oscar Lindberg and Jesper Fast. Puempel, 23, had been out for the previous four games.
“Pumps is a young player,” Vigneault said, “and I just feel that it’s time to get him in a game.”
Goalie Henrik Lundqvist has faced Islanders captain John Tavares enough to know what to expect.
“I think around the league every team has one, or maybe two guys, that really stand out when it comes to moving the puck and shooting the puck. Obviously, he’s top of the league when it comes to that,” Lundqvist said. “He’s a really good player, and he makes the players around him really good. So obviously we have to make sure we play hard and don’t give him too much room.”
The Rangers honored Garden of Dreams recipient Moshe Illouz with an honorary five-day contract signed by general manager Jeff Gorton, and some on-ice practice time Wednesday with his idol and fellow goalie, Lundqvist. Illouz is a teenager battling cancer, and has found inspiration in the Rangers.
“It’s moments like this that make the fight worth it,” Illouz said.
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