Plenty of blame to go around for Rangers’ faceoff futility
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Maybe faceoffs don’t matter that much in the grand scheme of a game. But when it’s this lopsided, it’s hard to miss.
During the Rangers’ desultory 7-5 loss to the Blue Jackets on Sunday night, they won just 31 percent of the draws, winning 21 and losing 47.
“I’ve never been part of a game where we got dominated at faceoffs to that magnitude. That’s why they had the puck all night,” said infuriated coach David Quinn. “Not a lot of good.”
Mika Zibanejad, who has been relatively good at the dots all year, went 9-for-24 (38 percent), while Boo Nieves was atrocious while going 2-for-16 (13 percent). Yet Quinn wasn’t about to put it all on his centers.
“Our guys on the flanks didn’t help at all,” he said.
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Part of Quinn’s thinking in going with goalie Alex Georgiev for both games of this weekend back-to-back was to give his regular starter, Henrik Lundqvist, “a mental breather.”
Lundqvist, 36, had started 32 of the first 39 games, but has now backed up four of the past six games.
After being a game-time decision, defenseman Neal Pionk was able to return from a one-game absence due to a lower-body ailment. He got 19:53 of ice time while paired with Brady Skjei. Adam McQuaid came out of the lineup to make room.
Freddy Claesson missed his first game after the defenseman suffered what sure seemed to be a right shoulder/arm injury on Saturday. Quinn said he is slated for a MRI on Monday to better assess the damage.
Quinn swapped third- and fourth-line centers, moving Nieves up with Jimmy Vesey and Vlad Namestnikov, while Brett Howden went down between Cody McLeod and Pavel Buchnevich. Neither unit was effective.
Brendan Smith came back into the lineup after the blueliner had been scratched for three straight and six of the previous seven. He paired with Kevin Shattenkirk.
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Center Kevin Hayes remained out for the sixth straight game with his nagging upper-body injury. There hasn’t been a call-up yet because, Quinn said, “we’re still thinking he could come sooner than later.”
Sunday was defenseman Marc Staal’s 32nd birthday, and his veteran presence was appreciated by Quinn.
“Staaly is such an influence in the locker room, he’s such a calming influence,” Quinn said. “He does his job in a professional manner and he’s had a really good year on the ice. When those [young] guys play with him, I think there’s a little bit of a safety factor to it all and there is a little calming effect on those guys. So with no question, I think he helps those guys.”