It may be difficult for the Rangers to be without their stalwart teammates as Monday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline approaches, but that also means the young players with whom the hope of the organization rests are going to get a bigger opportunity.
“This is an incredible opportunity for all these guys,” coach David Quinn said after his team’s 5-2 win over the Devils on Saturday afternoon at the Garden, with the club having scratched big trade pieces Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello and Adam McQuaid as a precaution.
“From a personal standpoint, these guys have to realize they’re getting evaluated every minute of every day,” Quinn said. “People aren’t going to stop watching.”
This was the second game in a row for No. 7-overall pick Lias Andersson since being recalled from AHL Hartford, and he received 9:50 of ice time on a line with two other young hopefuls, Filip Chytil and Pavel Buchnevich. There could be more players coming up from the Wolf Pack for evaluation at this level, as well.
“Playing in the National Hockey League, and we got [21] games left, and we have to keep playing,” Quinn said. “We’ve got to be committed to each other, and they have to be committed to their careers.”
Goalie Alex Georgiev got his fifth start in the past nine games and made 19 saves for his 10th win of the season. The 23-year-old Bulgarian faced just four shots in the first period and nine in the second, turning them all away.
“It’s a bit challenging, but it’s much easier when the score is 3-0 our way,” Georgiev said. “I tried just to be in the game.”
With such a small workload, it’s possible Quinn could keep Henrik Lundqvist on the bench and go back to Georgiev for the second leg of the weekend back-to-back, Sunday afternoon in Washington.
Forward Ryan Strome scored his ninth and 10th goals of the season while playing in his 400th career NHL game.
Jimmy Vesey took Zuccarello’s spot on the right side of the red-hot top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Vesey scored a power-play goal in the first period and assisted on Kreider’s goal later in the first, notching his first two-point game since Dec. 1.
Quinn dressed seven defensemen again, but played regular blueliner Brendan Smith almost exclusively as a fourth-line winger, next to Boo Nieves and Connor Brickley.
The Rangers coach put the Marc Staal-Tony DeAngelo pair back together, while going with Neal Pionk next to Brady Skjei and Freddy Claesson with Kevin Shattenkirk.