There is a fine line between reacting and overreacting. The side that Rangers coach David Quinn falls on, in the wake of Thursday’s embarrassment of a 4-0 opening night loss for the Islanders, could reverberate all season if the coach picks badly.
“That’s a balancing act,” Quinn said after Friday’s practice, in which Tony DeAngelo was sent to skate with the JV squad and basically juggle every line combo and defensive pair. “We are certainly very concerned about what happened [Thursday] night.
“Sure, very disappointed. It was a complete shock to us as a staff. “
It was only one match, of course. It was, of course, only Game One. Of course there will not only be speed bumps on the road for this team, but also for every team. It would be insane to panic and start throwing furniture in the midst of a tantrum 60 minutes after a 3,360 minute plus season.
But Thursday’s malodorous effort can’t just be written off as one of those things, either. The loss was the Blueshirts’ most skewed in an opener in 40 years, as the 1980-81 club was defeated by the Bruins 7-2 on their way to a 3-12-3 breakaway. Indeed, Rangers teams have only been beaten four times in franchise history with four goals or more in an opener. So no, this is not something that happens every day.
But on the heels of a performance in which Quinn, both immediately after the game and then again on Friday, said: “Nothing good happened … in any capacity”, the player combinations were less of a problem than the team intended . and preparedness. And sure enough, the technical staff share responsibility for the total eclipse of the team’s heart.
DeAngelo was temporarily downgraded – he can’t officially be assigned to the taxi crew without lifting waivers, which could be a 50-50 proposition at this point given the off-ice baggage he’s carrying – because of bad behavior, not because he’s one of a cast of thousands to play bad.
There was no excuse for the defender to incur an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by speaking out his mouth and then slamming the door to the box after being summoned for a bear hug a minute into the third period. Indeed, DeAngelo seemed blown up on the bench at various times of the game.
The Rangers and Quinn thought they’d put these kinds of actions behind them two years ago, when DeAngelo was a repeat scratch for “ maturity issues. ” That was not there last season. But here we are, one game in 2020-21.
“Tony took an undisciplined penalty kick, he and I had a conversation, and we just have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” said Quinn. “We have taken too many penalties [shorthanded eight times] On [Thursday], we took too many sanctions last year, and we need to nip it in the bud now. “
Quinn declined to say if DeAngelo will be scratched for Saturday’s rematch against the Islanders, but the smart money says yes, he’ll be in street clothes. Every defense position changed during practice, with Ryan Lindgren skating with Jacob Trouba, Jack Johnson on the left with Adam Fox and Brendan Smith on the right with K’Andre Miller.
Two things here: 1) Why break up the Lindgren-Fox combination that was the best of the team last season; and, 2) If the idea is to ease the pressure on Miller by taking him off a matchup pair with Trouba, why not reunite Smith with Trouba to reconstruct the pair that was so effective after the transaction deadline?
And, I suspect a third and fourth: why change every defensive combination, and what is it about Johnson that elevates him above Smith in the pecking order?
In addition to the Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich unit, the other three lines were also curved. Most notably, Quinn moved Alexis Lafreniere to the right wing on the 1A line with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome, while Kaapo Kakko was dropped to a converted third unit with Filip Chytil and Phillip Di Giuseppe.
All summer I lobbied for Lafreniere to get straight into the top six, and I think he deserves that. But this move will be seen more as a relegation for Kakko than a promotion for Lafreniere. If that’s the case internally, it can backfire. The Rangers just can’t afford to downsize Kakko at this point until he’s even had a chance to get a foothold.
“This is his second year. Everyone here thinks he’s a really good player. We just need men who show up in the evenings and in the evenings, fight in and out in the evening and he is no different, ” the coach said of the 19-year-old winger. “He was on a busy bus with guys who didn’t have good nights, so he has to get better, but everyone has to be better.”
It just is. The Rangers must be better. Much better. The route to get there will be paved with choices. Selecting the wrong one can have long-term consequences.