CHICAGO — So Jimmy Sheppard has gone from an offensive center to a defensive winger in a matter of days. Yet the newest Rangers forward is not trying to pigeonhole himself this early into his tenure on Broadway.
“It’s not even trying to put a label on it,” Sheppard said after Saturday’s practice in Westchester before the Blueshirts flew to Chicago for Sunday night’s game against the Blackhawks.
“I think in order to have a successful team, every line has to be checking, and every line has to be scoring. You just have to beat the line you’re on against. So to put a label on it like that, I don’t think it’s fair.”
Sheppard came over from the Sharks at the trade deadline for a fourth-round pick, and played his first game as a Ranger in Wednesday night’s terrific 2-1 overtime loss to the Red Wings in Detroit. He was on the left wing of the fourth line with Dominic Moore and Jesper Fast, and was steady in his 9:58 of ice time.
“It was good to go to war with your teammates, then you get a little closer when you’re playing,” he said. “So it was great to play the first one. Just trying to find my new life and [get] adjusted.”
Sheppard, 26, has played wing before, so that’s not too much of an adjustment for him. It also allows Moore to take a little more risk — or “cheat,” as Sheppard called it — in trying to win face-offs, because if Moore gets tossed from the circle, another capable centerman is there.
“It’s not bad an adjustment; it’s basically [taking or not taking] draws,” Sheppard said. “When you think having Dom over there, we can kind of a cheat a little more for each other.”
Coach Alain Vigneault toyed with his power-play combinations on Saturday, switching around the point men of both units. He started with Dan Girardi and Dan Boyle together at the points of the Rick Nash-Derick Brassard-Mats Zuccarello unit up, while Keith Yandle and Ryan McDonagh toed the blue line with Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Martin St. Louis.
Then Boyle and Yandle got a chance together, pairing McDonagh and Girardi.
“We were mixing and matching the duos, especially Keith and Dan Boyle, taking a look on both lines,” Vigneault said. “Depending on how they perform, we’ll see what happens during the game.”
The Rangers man-advantage is 4-for-20 in the past 12 games, with the goals coming from a Girardi diving tip in front, two Kreider breakaways and an empty-netter.
The Rangers had Thursday and Friday off, a rare occurrence at this time of the season.
“We have a pretty important stretch run going up to the end of the season, so any time we get a day off, more-or-less two, that’s huge,” Kreider said. “Sometimes you kind of take for granted how physically and mentally draining it could be.”