We would say that the last time something like this happened was when John Tortorella replaced Marian Gaborik in the third period of the final of the 2012 Rangers conference against the Devils, unless doing such a thing was an almost standard operating procedure. for the coach. .
Therefore, there is no shock value.
That, however, Thursday night in Newark was different. This was different with David Quinn, who for the first time in his three seasons behind the bench dropped the hammer on one of the Rangers ’tent players, drastically reducing Mika Zibanejad’s ice time in the first period before of sitting him the first 10:46 of the second.
Finally, after weeks of giving Zibanejad the edge of the doubt he had earned not only last season, but through all the work of the center run by Quinn, the coach had seen enough, after another period in which the Swede was a cipher. on the ice.
And so he sat him down. He sat him down after a blunt opening to the entire team for 20 minutes, in which the Devils were only able to gain a 1-0 lead thanks to Igor Shesterkin’s exceptional play on the nets, and they settle to the midpoint of the second, at which point the Blueshirts had tied 1-1 with Chris Kreider’s goal.
Shock value here, okay.
“I didn’t love his game, I didn’t love what we were watching – I didn’t really like our first period – but obviously he has had a difficult start to the season and maybe sitting for a while would give him a little shake-up and let’s give our team a little shake-up, ”Quinn said after the Blueshirts returned to victory 6-1. “I liked what I saw when he came back.
“I was just going to see how he played, how he competed, how he skated. If he thought he saw a rise in his work, he would continue to interpret it, and if not, he would continue to sit. That was really what it came to be. “
This was a game full of headlines. Kreider, with one of his patents Did. You. I will see. Chris! streaks, he recorded his second hat trick in five games, giving him nine goals in the last six games. Shesterkin, who has elevated his game during the fortnight, was forced to leave with 5:52 after suffering an apparent injury to his right leg that could force him to miss a period of time. If so, it will have important ramifications for this 9-9-3 team that has gone 5-2 in the last seven.
But Zibanejad’s bench will reverberate. One never knows how a player as proud as Zibanejad will react to something like this. You also don’t know how your teammates and your best buds will react. Let’s not forget. He was one of the best players in the world last season. It was one of the best centers in the league the year before. And he was on the bench.
“I think he’s letting the stats and all the pressure slow him down a bit,” Quinn said. “It simply came to our notice then.
“This is a boy who has been a fearless player, who has been a brave player and is still a boy who enters the battle, but only something is missing. No doubt we kept trying to let him play, he sure won that opportunity, but right now we have to keep playing the guys who are playing well. “
Zibanejad played purposefully through his last 13 innings and 9:05 of ice, continuing to stand out in the penalty shootout unit which he got 4 by 4 in this one. He was involved, jumping to a free drive to set up Alexis Lafreniere for the dart that made it 6-1 at 6:27 p.m. from the third for the first point of the first year (3-3) in the last six games.
(And, what guy, all of a sudden, Quinn has been so much better at developing youth, right?)
The decay of Zibanejad has been hidden in mystery. Its powerful and powerful ramifications are sharp. But the ramifications of this small bank will also be critical. There is no doubt that his teammates have their backs, with Kreider issuing an unsolicited testimony in the form of a captain in support of his harassed friend and colleague. It almost felt like Mark Messier defending Brian Leetch. Almost.
This was a night of importance for the Rangers and for Quinn, who sat down to a star and whose team responded with a dominant 40 minutes behind.
“I think every time you sit down one of your best players that definitely makes everyone have a little bit of attention and I just thought we were getting better as the game progressed,” the coach said. “If that had anything to do with it, I don’t know.”
The Rangers and Quinn had been waiting for Zibanejad for 20 games. The coach did not wait for 21. Now we all wait to see how the substitute captain responds to this.