In each of the past four games while the Rangers were protecting third-period leads, head coach Gerard Gallant used Nils Lundkvist sparingly down the stretch, each time limiting the 21-year-old first-year North American pro to just two shifts over at least the final 11 minutes of regulation.
It was two shifts over the final 12:01 against the Panthers on Nov. 8, two over the last 11:57 in Columbus on Saturday, two in the final 11:22 plus overtime the following night against the Devils, and two over the final 12:07 in Tuesday’s victory over Montreal while Lundkvist’s nominal partner, Patrik Nemeth was paired with Jacob Trouba.
Nevertheless, Gallant and the front office hierarchy believe that New York and the NHL are where Lundkvist belongs as opposed to Hartford and the AHL, where the Swede would presumably get major minutes in all key situations.
“It’s not like he can’t defend; he’s learning the defensive game over here,” the head coach said after the Rangers prepped for Thursday night’s match in Toronto. “We’re real happy with where he’s at.”
Nils Lundkvist has only played a handful of minutes in the past few Rangers games — much fewer than he’d play at AHL Hartford. Bill KostrounLundkvist, who has dressed for four straight and 12 of the Blueshirts’ 16 contests, is averaging 14:08 of ice time per game that includes 12:57 at even-strength and 1:09 per on the power play. His positioning at five-on-five is coming as he continues to adapt to a much faster game in which defensemen have much less time and space with which to maneuver and make plays.
The slick righty would get more of a run with the man-advantage except that the first unit with Adam Fox at the point eats up a huge portion of time. Fox averages 3:36 per on the power play.
“[Lundqvist’s progression] is steady; I mean there’s nothing real flashy out there,” said Gallant. “You talk about him [that] he’s going to be a talented power-play guy, but Foxy is out there for a good part of that power play so [Lundqvist] doesn’t get a whole lot of looks out there in that, but he moves the puck well, he’s got a lot of skill and a good hockey IQ.
“He’s never going to be a physical player and that’s not what we want. He’s a Foxy-type player, not at that level, obviously, but he just got over here. He’s doing everything we want. He’s young, it takes some time, but we’re happy as hell with him. He’s everything we thought he is.”
So, no, Chris Kreider, who had not gone in a shootout since five weeks into his 2012-13 rookie season was not quite “hiding at the end of the bench,” as Gallant had joked when Sunday’s skills competition against the Devils moved into the bottom of the seventh inning.
But, said No. 20 following Wednesday’s practice, “No, [I wasn’t hiding] but I didn’t think it mattered where I stood on the bench.”
Kreider, who leads the team and is in a three-way tie for second in the NHL with 12 goals, was quick to point out that he was selected when the shootout was, “seven rounds deep.”
“Over the course of my career it usually doesn’t get to more than three or four guys and there was also some combination of Mika and Zuke,” the winger said in reference to Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello.
Fact is, Kreider’s two career attempts have both come in the seventh round, the first on which he was denied by Ottawa’s Ben Bishop on Feb. 21, 2013. The team had gone seven rounds deep in only three other shootouts in the interim.
Libor Hajek, set to play in his third game with the Wolf Pack on Saturday, will have two remaining over the weekend before his 14-day conditioning assignment comes to an end, though the stay could be extended by mutual agreement between the player and New York front office.
The 23-year-old, who was a healthy scratch as the eighth defenseman for the first 12 games of the Rangers season, has been playing left side on a pair with Zac Jones for the Wolf Pack.
