The Rangers scored as many as five goals in a road game for the first time since Feb. 17 in Sunday’s 5-2 victory in Washington, but it wasn’t so much the quantity as the way his team scored that left head coach Gerard Gallant satisfied.
The example, he said, was set by Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, who combined to score twice.
Lafreniere had scored on a feed from Chytil after No. 72 had stolen the puck from Nicklas Backstrom just outside the offensive zone, and Kakko scored after beating John Carlson in a one-on-one puck battle.
“I thought last game, we played the game from the drop of the puck to the end of the game and that’s what I liked about our team,” Gallant said. “We managed the puck well, we put a lot more pucks to the net.
“The Kid Line, they scored a couple of real nice goals because they worked hard down low and when you can show good clips like that and show them that they work like that, it goes a long way with your team.”
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“I think the guys really looked at the way the kids played last game and said, you know what, they did some real good things down low, they managed the puck real well, they went low to high and got some rebounds,” the coach said. “It’s simple stuff, every coach says the same thing, but when you do it and see it, that works really well for our group especially.”
Gallant was quick to add that every player has to play his own game. This is not a cookie-cutter outfit.
“You just can’t say, ‘Well, Bread’s going to go play Kaapo’s game,’ ” the coach said, referring to Artemi Panarin. “That’s not what Bread does.
“The other guys have to play their game. That’s what it’s all about. But when we show pucks going to the net and people going for second and third chances, that’s what makes our team play really well.”
Patrick Kane took a day for maintenance but is expected to play in Wednesday’s match at the Garden against Tampa Bay. With Ryan Lindgren returning to the lineup, Ben Harpur is slated to be the healthy scratch.
If a forward is unable to play over the final five games, or if the team wanted to rest a forward, the Blueshirts would go with a lineup featuring 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
“No issue with that,” Gallant said. “No issue at all with that.”
The Rangers will complete the back-to-back Thursday in St. Louis before concluding their final trip Saturday night at Columbus. The match against the Blues will mark the club’s 16th game in 29 days. The Blueshirts will complete the regular season with two at the Garden against the Sabres on Monday and the Maple Leafs on April 13.