Quinn wants Rangers to pick up pace when they’re a man up
David Quinn stopped a drill at Rangers practice Saturday and adamantly told his team he wanted to see more urgency and pace and less sticking in spots on the power play.
The unit has been better of late, but there’s still work to be done for the NHL’s 19th-ranked power play.
The Rangers started the season 1-for-12 on the man-advantage before scoring three power-play goals over their past two games (10 opportunities) entering Sunday’s meeting with the Flames at the Garden.
“That’s how you win games, scoring on the power play, so we’ve got to work on it more in practice,” winger Mats Zuccarello said. “We worked on it today, wasn’t good today, but it’s all about doing it and getting a feel for each other.”
Zuccarello was on the ice with the top power-play unit Saturday, along with Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Pavel Buchnevich and Neal Pionk. The Rangers went 2-for-4 Wednesday against the Capitals, with Pionk assisting on both goals.
“[Pionk] does a great job getting the puck through to the net,” Quinn said. “He doesn’t try to make the difficult pass, he’s making the right pass. He’s not overthinking it. It’s amazing what happens — you just keep making the right play, the opportunities are going to present themselves.”
Zuccarello echoed that mindset.
“The fact is that you can work as hard as you can, but if you don’t work smart, it doesn’t matter,” Zuccarello said. “We have to work smarter.”
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Quinn said he did not recruit Johnny Gaudreau while coaching at Boston University, but he did see plenty of the former Boston College winger who has 298 points in 319 NHL games with the Flames.
“He’s just got incredible skating ability and hockey IQ,” Quinn said. “He competes. There’s a lot to like about him and there’s a lot about him that’s elite.”
Defenseman Fredrik Claesson left practice Saturday with an upper-body injury. Quinn said it was “nothing long term, just something we have to monitor.”
Claesson had played in each of the past four games, collecting 12 hits, three blocked shots and a plus-one rating after being a healthy scratch to start the year.
Left wing Matt Beleskey ditched the non-contact sweater and participated in his first full practice since suffering a separated shoulder during the preseason. He remains on injured reserve.
“Still a little way’s away, so it was good to see him making progress and taking the next step to be able to be out there for practice,” Quinn said.