Peter Laviolette’s lineup changes lead to Rangers’ win
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Head coach Peter Laviolette made several changes to the Rangers lineup in their 4-3 win over the Blue Jackets on Saturday, the club’s final game before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, who missed the previous two games due to illness, was reinserted into his usual post on the left of Braden Schneider on the third defensive pairing.
As a result, after two games filling in, Zac Jones was a healthy scratch once again.
Considering the role Jones has found himself in for a majority of this season, the expectation was that Vaakanainen would come back once he was healthy.
The other changes Laviolette made, however, were clearly coaching decisions.
Despite only playing in his fourth straight contest following a nine-game stretch as a healthy scratch, Jimmy Vesey found himself on the right wing of the first line alongside Artemi Panarin and J.T. Miller.
That bumped Mika Zibanejad, who had been playing in that spot the previous four games, back to center of the third line.
He had Chris Kreider and Arthur Kaliyev, back in the lineup after four games as a healthy scratch, on his wings.
The second line was made up of Will Cuylle, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere, while Reilly Smith took Vesey’s spot on the left wing of the fourth unit with Sam Carrick and Matt Rempe.
Jonathan Quick stopped 22 of the 25 shots he saw in his eighth win of the season.
Kaliyev opened up the scoring for the Rangers on a sweet wraparound goal just under two minutes into the game.
The 23-year-old has three goals and an assist in 11 games so far this season.
With an assist in the win, Adam Fox extended his point streak to four games, over which he’s collected one goal and three assists.
He also has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past nine.
It also gave Fox 40 assists on the season, which ties him with James Patrick for the second most in team history among defensemen.
He became just the fifth skater — and the first defenseman — to record five straight 40-assist seasons with the Rangers and just the fourth U.S.-born defenseman in NHL history to post a run of that length.
