Jimmy Vesey was scratched for the third straight sport and fourth of the final six within the Rangers’ 5-1 defeat in opposition to the Kings on the Backyard on Saturday and to listen to head coach Peter Laviolette speak about it, it’s not about what the veteran has did not do on the ice.
“Jimmy’s been a very good player, but when somebody is out of the lineup, and you could say the same thing for Jonny [Brodzinski], but Jimmy has been good when he’s been in there, but at this point, I’ve made a decision to go with a different player,” Laviolette mentioned. “At this level, I like what that participant is doing on the ice.
“That doesn’t mean that any player who is out of the lineup is necessarily doing something wrong.”
Laviolette has chosen to go along with the energetic, extra bodily, 22-year-old Brett Berard in Vesey’s place on the proper aspect of the fourth line that includes Sam Carrick within the center and Adam Edstrom on the left. Berard was promoted from the AHL Wolf Pack on Nov. 24 when Filip Chytil was out of the lineup coping with upper-body points.
Chris Kreider missed a while, Reilly Smith was scratched for a sport, Berard went down for 3 video games with an upper-body subject of his personal when crunched by Kirby Dach on Nov. 30. He returned Dec. 9 in opposition to Chicago, bumping Vesey out of the lineup.
That is the primary time since returning to the Rangers in 2022-23 that the 31-year-old winger has been scratched for greater than a single sport at a time. Vesey, who has three factors (2-1) in 15 video games whereas getting a mean of 9:34 of ice time, was scratched as soon as early in 2022-23 after which twice within the first week final season beneath Laviolette.
Vesey was on LTIR for the opening 10 video games with a lower-body damage he sustained early in camp. Primarily combining with Carrick and Edstrom since his Nov. 3 debut, the fourth line has had a 51.23 Corsi over 96:28 whereas on for 2 targets scored and three in opposition to with a 53.34 anticipated objective share.
With Berard, the unit had recorded a 59.26 Corsi over 13:13 whereas on for no targets scored and two in opposition to with a 50.43 xGF getting into this one.
“I think they’re different players,” Laviolette mentioned of Vesey and Berard. “I believe Jimmy has carried out a very good job often beginning within the defensive zone, I assumed the road was efficient and that may be mentioned when Jonny was on it.
“But [Thursday with Berard] I liked the way that line played in Buffalo and were maybe our best and most effective line.”
“But I don’t really have an answer about Jimmy,” the top coach mentioned. “He’s a good player but right now he is caught in the numbers.”
Igor Shesterkin was pulled on the 5:04 mark of the second interval after surrendering 5 targets on 21 photographs. The beginning was his twenty second within the membership’s twenty ninth sport. He made his twenty second begin final yr in Sport 35; in Sport 30 in 2022-23; and in Sport 39 in 2021-22, throughout which he was sidelined for three-plus weeks in December with a lower-body subject.
Chad Ruhwedel, recalled from Hartford to function the seventh defenseman, was scratched for the sixteenth time in between his one sport for the Blueshirts (Oct. 19 at Toronto) and 11 video games for the Wolf Pack throughout his three earlier assignments.
The Rangers embark on their remaining pre-Christmas highway tour, in St. Louis on Sunday, Nashville on Tuesday and Dallas on Friday.
