David Quinn: Rangers ending slide was a team effort
Rangers head coach David Quinn looks on with his team against the Coyotes at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
David Quinn has kept changing lines and defense pairs and doing whatever he could to try and find the right mix that would work for the Rangers, but he was not willing to point to those changes as the reason the Rangers were finally able to end their five-game losing streak.
“I was encouraged by a lot of things tonight, more so from some of the individual performances,’’ Quinn said after Thursday night's 6-2 win over the Sabres. “I thought a bunch of guys good nights; they were dialed in, there was a lot more purpose to their game, there was a lot more support throughout all three zones. The guy who had the puck had people to pass it to, which hasn't been the case too often over the last two weeks, so it wasn't just the lines; I thought there were a lot of guys came here with a purpose tonight.’’
Quinn to Chytil: Keep it up
At the morning skate, Quinn was asked whether calling up a player from AHL Hartford had been considered as the team tries to find different ways of shaking things up.
“We talk about that daily,’’ he said.
Asked specifically whether Filip Chytil, the 20-year-old center who is leading Hartford in scoring with eight points (three goals, five assists) in six games, needs to do anything more to earn a callup, Quinn said he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing.
“There's a lot of things that you consider when you make those decisions, so, everyone knows he's doing very well down there, and if he continues to play to his level that we know he's capable of playing, he'll be back here,’’ Quinn said.
Blue shorts
Quinn was less effusive in talking about another former player of his, former Ranger Jimmy Vesey, who was traded to Buffalo on July 1. Asked what difference he noticed in Vesey with the Sabreso, Quinn said, “I haven't had a chance to watch much of them, so any comment I would have on them wouldn't be one that would be real.’’ . . . Despite playing on the first line, Kaapo Kakko had just 11:47 of ice time. Only the fourth line trio of Greg McKegg, Lias Andersson and Brendan Smith had less.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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