BUFFALO — Head coach Peter Laviolette has reserved his power-play tweaks for the second unit lately.
It is not the second power play, however, that hasn’t been able to get it done for the Rangers with the man advantage.
They simply don’t get enough ice time to begin with.
Mika Zibanejad celebrates after scoring a power play goal in the Rangers’ 3-2 win over the Sabres on Dec. 11, 2024. NHLI via Getty Images
Before the Rangers’ 3-2 win over the Sabres on Wednesday night in which they scored a power-play goal, PP1 had gone 5-for-26 in the previous 10 games, over which the Blueshirts posted a lowly 2-8 record.
“There’s been some movement, we’ve had players out of the lineup,” Laviolette said, referencing when Alexis Lafreniere replaced Chris Kreider when he was dealing with back spasms. “We’ve had other players on there. I wouldn’t say it was more effective or less effective. There is some history with that group. You try to balance those things.
“At the end of the day, they do get into the offensive zone, they do spend a lot of time there looking for opportunities. And I would say, like our five-on-five game, we’re finding it a little more difficult right now. We just got to stay with it.”
This has been a topic of discussion surrounding the Rangers for years, but each coach always takes the same approach.
The history between the first power-play unit is always too encouraging to give up on, which has not only led to such lopsided ice time between the two units, but it has also discouraged coaches from messing with the personnel.
But when players on the second unit are playing much better than the stars on the first, it begs the question of how long Laviolette’s leash is.
Adjustments continue to be made to the second group, which was comprised of Will Cuylle, Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil, Reilly Smith and Zac Jones in Wednesday’s win.
First it was Cuylle who was taken off ahead of the Blackhawks game. This time it was Kaapo Kakko.
“They’re all having good years,” he said. “It’s difficult. All those players could be in the lineup. I do think that Cools provides a good net-front. He’s a guy that’s willing to get in there and stand there and just take the eyes, similarly to the way Chris Kreider does it. They’ve all been effective in that situation.”
Igor Shesterkin got the starting nod Wednesday night against the Sabres, marking his 21st start of the season.
Defenseman Urho Vaakainanen, who the Rangers acquired from Anaheim in the Jacob Trouba trade, continues to skate in a green non-contact jersey while on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.