The Rangers’ Gerard Gallant coaches to win, and that’s not about to change now that his team is officially in the playoffs.
It sounds like Gallant will consider managing workloads or giving certain players a night off on a case-by-case basis and only if the situation warrants it. The goal has now shifted from securing a spot in the playoffs, which the club did on Saturday with a win over the Senators, to finishing the regular season as strong as possible and gearing up for their first legitimate trip to the Stanley Cup tournament since 2017.
In order to do that, the Rangers want to be competing with their full lineup each game.
“If we think there’s an issue with somebody getting too much ice time or we think they need a day off, then we’ll look at it,” Gallant said after practice at MSG Training Center in Tarrytown on Monday. “We’re going to do what’s right for our team moving forward and we’ll see where it goes. But it’s a one-day-at-a-time thing. There’s not a plan for the next nine games.”
Gallant noted that if someone gets a little bruised or banged up, they probably will be held out of the lineup as a precaution no matter what. Having a fully healthy group going into the playoffs is the most important thing, but so is staying at the top of their game.
Several players have expressed a preference for playing consistently in order to ensure they remain sharp. Defenseman Jacob Trouba said the Rangers don’t want to get complacent and coast until the end, and the way to accomplish that is by continuing to win games.
Jacob Trouba NHLI via Getty Images“Definitely not take a rest, I think that’s kind of when you get in trouble,” he said. “I think it’s just doing the same things that got us here, playing the same way, just playing to be ready to play when the playoffs do come. That’s the main goal, is being at the top of your game to start the playoffs.
“Guys may have different ways of doing that, personally, but as a team we want to keep playing the same way and keep building our game.”
Filip Chytil, who suffered an upper-body injury against the Penguins last week, skated as an extra with the team on Monday. Gallant said he’d find out later in the day if Chytil was cleared to play, but the Czech forward took line rushes with the other scratches in Julien Gauthier, Greg McKegg, and Jonny Brodzinski.
Patrik Nemeth did not participate in practice due to personal reasons. The Rangers said Nemeth’s absence was not related to the COVID-19 fatigue he experienced earlier in the season.
