Alain Vigneault was hoping to “catch everybody’s attention,” and he sure did.
The Rangers coach mixed and matched almost all of his forward lines and defensive pairs for the team’s first game out of the three-day Christmas break Wednesday night against the Capitals at the Garden.
Most notably, he was set to start the game with second-leading scorer Pavel Buchnevich on the fourth line with Paul Carey and Boo Nieves.
“Butchie has been going up and down in the last three games,” Vigneault said after the team’s morning skate in Westchester, his team having lost its last two games going into the break and posting a 4-3-2 record over its previous nine.
“If somebody is off, I’m not going to hesitate to make a switch and to do what we have to do to play a good game,” Vigneault added. “Butchie has been a good player for us, and I know that he’s going to continue to be a good player for us.”
Buchnevich, 22, had 11 goals and 25 points in his first 36 games this season, already surpassing his 20 points in 41 games as a rookie last year when he dealt with back and core issues. He was set to remain on the top power-play unit, however.
“After a three-day break when you haven’t practiced, this will catch everybody’s attention,” Vigneault said. “There will be good communication between new linemates and new ‘D’ pairs, and should be good to go.”
Also up front, Vigneault put J.T. Miller back on the right wing with Michael Grabner and Kevin Hayes. That left the other two lines as Rick Nash-Mika Zibanejad-Mats Zuccarello, along with Chris Kreider-David Desharnais-Jimmy Vesey.
“In our last game, we had some good moments,” Vigneault said, referring to the 3-2 loss Saturday night to the Maple Leafs, “but I felt that we needed to be a little bit more consistent.”
Vigneault had not been too pleased with the play of Zibanejad in the three games he played since returning from a nine-game absence because of a concussion. He sat the presumptive top-line center for the final 18:09 of the game Saturday.
“It’s been average. He needs to find his game,” Vigneault said. “He needs to be more involved, more committed to make some plays with the puck and win some puck battles. We just had three days here to clear the mind, good morning skate this morning and hopefully he’ll give us a good game.”
The only defensive pair to stay the same was Ryan McDonagh-Nick Holden, while Marc Staal switched to the right side to go with Brady Skjei, leaving Brendan Smith-Kevin Shattenkirk as the third pair.
They were defensive pairs that Vigneault said he “wanted to see for a while,” and with the losses and the break he found the opportunity.