Rangers putting Redden back on power play
Photo credit: Getty Images | File - Rangers' defenseman Wade Redden. (November 17, 2008)
Veteran defenseman Wade Redden, who totaled 16 power-play goals in his last three seasons in Ottawa before coming to the Rangers last season, will be seeing some time on the point again.
Redden, 32, who scored only two power-play goals last season, rarely has been used with the man advantage through the first 20 games this season.
But with Marc Staal struggling with turnovers while trying to balance the duties of a shutdown defenseman and manning the point on the second power-play unit, Rangers coach John Tortorella is adjusting the roles.
Staal, 22, leads the team in average ice time at 22 minutes, 29 seconds, with 1:27 on the power play, which has been inconsistent the past two weeks. Redden averages about three minutes less and only 14 seconds with the man advantage, but against Ottawa on Saturday, he spent two minutes on power plays.
Said Tortorella, "We're looking to maybe expand his role a little bit, and we're also a little concerned with Marc, that he gets the most important part of his game down, and that's the five-on- five."
The coaching staff wanted to push Staal (3-12-15 last season) to be more aggressive offensively and to lift the power-play pressure from Redden.
"[Redden has] met us halfway; he's played decently for us," Tortorella said. "Marc's had his ups and downs. He's a fairly young guy and we've been heaping a lot of responsibility on him as far as playing against a lot of top players and adding power-play time; it's really the first time for him."
As for Redden, who has handled the puck better than Staal and posted 23 assists last season, Tortorella said: "We're trying to rehabilitate [his game]. He assessed his play last year and wants to play better. I think he has; he's been steady. That's what we need out of him, especially when we have four young [defensemen] out there."
Notes & quotes: Don't expect much line-matching by the Rangers against the Capitals (12-4-4, 5-3-1 on the road) Tuesday night. "I like playing head-on- head," Tortorella said. "I'm playing our top guys. I don't know how it got in the coaches' book that you can't play guys over 20 minutes." . . . Centers Chris Drury (concussion) and Brandon Dubinsky (broken hand) won't be back soon. "I know [trainer Jim Ramsey] will come to me when they're trying to start the process," Tortorella said of Drury's status. Dubinsky, who like Drury was injured in Calgary 10 days ago, has only off-ice workouts scheduled.
