The New York Rangers dropped their preseason opener against the Bruins in Boston on Sunday evening with Peter Laviolette behind the bench for the first time as head coach.
The first preseason game day for New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette unfortunately did not go as planned. A string of misfortune hit the Blueshirts and their new bench manager, with the hapless sequence culminating in a disappointing, shutout loss against the Bruins.
Peter Laviolette’s disappointing first gameday with the Rangers
In the morning scrimmage, Laviolette had to deal with injuries to star forward Mika Zibaenjead and one of the team’s most promising prospects, Brennan Othmann.
Then, the team’s travels to Boston for their first preseason game were delayed due to inclement weather (the 5:00 p.m. start was postponed until 5:45 p.m.).
The exhibition game’s final score is insignificant (3-0 loss). What was significant was what the coach saw on the ice after three days of training camp.
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Laviolette unhappy with “noisy chances” surrendered
“The chances that we gave up, it wasn’t a quantity thing, it was a quality thing. Just too many noisy chances against. If there was one thing we certainly got to get better at is controlling those types of chances. They’re too loud, too noisy.”
Mollie Walker of the New York Post
The “noisy chances” Laviolette mentioned were the grade-A scoring chances the team’s defense allowed throughout the game. Starting goalie Johnathan Quick gave up three goals on 14 shots, splitting playing time with Louis Dominque.
Five veteran players traveled to TD Gardens: Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafreniere, Braden Schneider, Ben Harpur, and Johnathan Quick.
Rangers’ lineup comprised primarily of cut candidates
Lafreniere played on the right side, with Chytil centering and Will Cyulle on the left wing. The lineup for the game was mainly players who won’t be on the opening night roster.
Cuylle-Chytil-Lafrenière
Edstrom-Belzile-Vesey
Berard-Nash-Sýkora
Blidh-Leschyshyn-Brodzinski
Mackey-Schneider
Jones-Harpur
Robertson-Emberson
Quick
Domingue
Laviolette focusing on learning from the first game’s mistakes
Sunday was the first preseason game, and though it is essential to see what the players can do on the ice, Laviolette also recognizes that players’ mistakes can be used as learning tools for the next practice.
“It’s the first exhibition game, so guys are digesting new things and we’re looking at a lot of young players. You can get better at things and we can work at that.”
Mollie Walker of the New York Post
News and Notes (Via NYR PR)
- Filip Chytil paced New York with a team-high and game-high six shots on goal.
- Riley Nash went 6-for-8 in the faceoff dot (75%), a team-high among skaters with more than three draws.
- Anton Blidh led the Rangers in hits with six in his first appearance with the Rangers. He played parts of six seasons with Boston.
- Goaltender Jonathan Quick made his first appearance in net for the Blueshirts, playing 30:26.
- Head coach Peter Laviolette, associate head coach Phil Housley, and assistant coaches Dan Muse and Michael Pea served behind the bench for the first time with the Rangers.
The Rangers take on the New York Islanders on Tuesday night at MSG.
Follow Frank on X at @RangerProud.