Rangers show toughness matters with scratch of forward

BUFFALO — David Quinn said scratching Vlad Namestnikov in favor of Cody McLeod for Saturday’s match against the Sabres was more about McLeod than Namestnikov.

Though there is no reason to doubt the coach’s veracity, the case can be made Quinn inserted the truculent fourth-liner to send one message to Namestnikov: His performance, not only in Thursday’s opening 3-2 defeat to the Predators but throughout camp, is not acceptable, while concurrently sending another message to his team: When he says he wants physical, in-your-face hockey, he means it.

“Cody had a good camp, he played well, and I think he will bring a little more pace and energy to the group,” Quinn said before the optional morning skate. “This will give him a chance to continue to build off his camp. Vladdy and I had a good conversation. He’s still fighting his way through it.”

Namestnikov, obtained from Tampa Bay at the deadline as part of the return for Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller, has yet to create a niche with the Rangers. He is a skilled, finesse-oriented player who is on the fourth line because he was eclipsed throughout the preseason by Ryan Spooner in the competition for the one top-nine opening on the wing.

The 25-year-old Russian — whom the Blueshirts signed to a two-year, $8 million contract a day before he would have hit restricted free agency and might have been lured to the KHL — played 9:35 on Thursday, which included a 26-second stint on a first-period penalty kill. He did not force his way onto either power-play unit. That’s a far cry from the station he had with the Lightning, when he was on the first line with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov and a staple on the man-advantage unit in getting 3:16 per game.

Of course, Namestnikov, who had two goals and two assists in 19 games as a Blueshirt following the deadline, has done nothing to earn a commensurate assignment in New York. It is up to him to earn a promotion, but that does not mean he is not in a square-peg-round-hole scenario on the fourth line. A grinder, he isn’t.

It remains to be seen if McLeod, who picked up a pair of fighting majors in the preseason, can skate well enough to be an effective grinder on the line with Brett Howden and Vinni Lettieri. He was in on the forecheck reasonably well during the exhibition schedule, but those were games played at perhaps a two-thirds pace of an early season game. The Sabres would be a test for the winger, who re-upped on a one-year, $750,000 deal this summer following an unimpressive 25-game Broadway run after his late January waiver pickup.

Quinn made clear in his remarks both Friday and Saturday that he was not satisfied with the way his team had played in the competitive opener.

“I don’t think we spent enough time in the offensive zone,” the coach said. “We gave up way too many odd-man rushes, and that’s because we were hesitant on the forecheck. I don’t think we were as decisive as we’d been through training camp. I know it’s a different pace, but too often we were waiting to skate instead of skating.

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The message coming from David Quinn’s Rangers is loud and…

“Look at Nashville. Now they’re a very good team, but they go after you. They don’t rationalize that since they’re not going to be able to get there, they’re not going to try. They don’t think that because they’re 15 feet away from the puck that they’re not going to be able to influence the play.

“That’s the kind of mentality we want from this group.”

The Rangers got next to nothing Thursday from the putative first-line combination of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich. When it was suggested the trio wasn’t at its best, the coach said, “That’s being kind.

“I thought Mika had a really good night, but Kreids and Pavel, who have great speed, weren’t in on the forecheck enough and on top of the puck.”

When Quinn repeatedly said he wanted his team in the opposition’s collective face, he wasn’t kidding. That’s his message, one that resulted in a $4 million skill player sitting in favor of a $750,000 plugger in Game 2 of the season.