EDMONTON, Alberta — The Rangers recalled Victor Mancini on Friday after Zach Jones suffered an upper-body injury.
Mancini was immediately inserted into the Rangers' lineup for Saturday night's game against the Oilers at Rogers Place, as Jones skated for eight straight games and was considered day-to-day.
Mancini, 21, was about to put on his skates for practice in Hartford when he heard he got the call from the Blueshirts.
He checked out of the hotel and went to the airport, heading to Edmonton a little later.
Mancini did not check into the hotel until 3:30 a.m.
“It's going to be tough. It was kind of a crazy experience getting on the plane and getting here,” the Rangers rookie said after the morning skate. “Make sure you get some rest between now and the game.Obviously they have a really good team and a lot of skilled forwards, so it's going to be a real challenge, but… I'm excited about the challenge. I think it'll be good to see how well I can measure up.”
The fact that the Rangers sent Mancini across the country to play against Edmonton, rather than just using Chad Ruhwedel, shows that the Rangers consider the young blueliner a true seventh defenseman. It's clear.
After appearing in nine of the Rangers' first 10 games of the season, Mancini was sent off for four straight games with a scratch.
The Rangers wanted him to play, not sit in the press box.
“He was here. He didn't do anything to take away his spot. We just didn't want him to sit here without playing,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. . “To keep him moving forward and growing, he came back to play games. Now he's back. Rudy was a good defenseman for us and was playing well. But , as a result from camp, we were going to go with Vick at the time, so I was open and honest and said if I could play seven games, I would, but I can't do that.
“We didn't want him sitting here doing nothing, so we sent him in to play until we needed him again.”
After the teams finished their morning skate, Filip Sittil skated with Ruwedel.
Despite recovering from a concussion in New York and joining the Rangers in Calgary, the Czech center did not dress for the fourth straight game.
Jonathan Quick started Saturday night against the Oilers, making his fifth start of the season.
With a 128:05 shutout streak, Quick was on his way to earning his 398th career win.
