If curious how concerned the Rangers are with their struggling power play, how about a long video session before Saturday’s practice, and then jumping right into the man-advantage just 15 minutes into the on-ice work.
“It’s definitely an area that we’re putting a lot of focus on and a lot of attention on certain principles we feel are important,” coach Alain Vigneault said, his power play now 1-for-14 over the past five games — which included giving up a bad shorthanded goal that was the difference-maker in their 4-2 loss to the Islanders on Thursday.
Vigneault’s team will play host to the league-best Capitals on Sunday afternoon at the Garden, and the Rangers were hoping this good practice might help the man-advantage get out of the funk.
“At the end of the day, you also don’t want your players to go out there and overthink,” Vigneault said. “If you’re thinking too much on the ice, you’re playing slow and your’re not moving the puck quick. So we worked on it prior to practice and talked a lot about it in the video sessionand I really liked the work we did [Saturday] on the ice Puck movement was better, the shot attempts were better, retrieving the puck was better. So all in all, I thought it was a good day.”
Vigneault said 21-year-old Russian winger Pavel Buchnevich would be back in the lineup and playing on the fourth line with Oscar Lindberg and Jesper Fast, after Buchnevich was a healthy scratch on Thursday. He would replace Matt Puempel, who had struggled after sitting out the previous five games before facing the Islanders.
The focus seems to remain on simplifying the strategy, and just making sure to get shots through on the net.
“You have to find a way to get a timely goal on the power play, and I think last game against the Islanders was a prime example,” forward J.T. Miller said. “Whether we give up that shorthanded goal or not, it comes down to poor execution and winning our battles. We can’t overthink this, everyone knows how to play, just have to execute.”
“There were a couple plays there with the puck that I felt [Puempel] needed to make,” Vigneault said about Thursday’s game. “Not easy.”
Defenseman Kevin Klein, who missed Thursday’s game with flu-like symptoms, practiced fully and Vigneault said he was “good to go” for Sunday. He will pair with rookie Brady Skjei and bump Adam Clendening from the lineup.
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