After not playing since December 23, Zach Jones returned to his second straight game in a 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
And unlike his promising return in a victory in Boston due to Urho Varkaninen's illness, Jones was unable to help his costly defeat against the unmanned Penguin team on Friday.
The Jones and Braden Schneider pair struggled just like the rest of the lineup in the game where the Rangers could hardly afford to drop.
Before the loss, Peter LaViolet praised Jones' game.
“He's really watching the game,” the coach said. “He's a good skater, he makes good first passes and reads the situation from a defensive perspective. …The post-match conversation reminds him that that's exactly what we want, and he did well.”
It remains to be seen how that affects Jones.
Before Wednesday, he was a healthy scratcher with 18 straight games and 20 of his past 21 games.
“Last year, I was that guy all year round and I learned to roll with punches from time to time,” said Jones, who was in and out of the lineup a year ago. “One day is better than the other days. You're ready to play what the situation is, no matter how many days it is.”
Vaakanainen came out and the situation meant more time on Jones' ice, but the Rangers were playing Saturday's game in Columbus before the four countries beat them.
“It's hard. I want to enter the lineup after a while and in a way I want to stick to your game, [playing time is] deep inside you,” Jones said. “I'm not going to say that isn't the case. It's natural to think about that.”
As Adam Edstrom came out indefinitely with a lower body injury, Jimmy Vesey, alongside Matt Lempe and Sam Carrick, replaced him with the fourth line with the Bruins.
The line worked well together in the first game, but Lempe made a costly bad pass early in the second period on Friday that led to Pittsburgh's first goal.
However, Lempe hopes that the line will work well with Vessy despite Edstrom's absence.
“I played Ton in the playoffs last year, so I'm really comfortable with him,” Lempe said.
Still, Vesey couldn't bring the same level of physicality as the 6-foot-7 Edstrom.
Lempe said he doesn't expect Edstrom's absence to affect the way he plays, as he is already using his power effectively.
“No matter who's with me, I feel like I'm playing physically,” Lempe said. “So my game hasn't changed at all. [Edstrom]. ”
What Rempe is more focused on is what he has addressed for most of the season.
“I think my game has improved a lot,” Lempe said. “As a player, I'm learning to play more in the puck and I want to continue developing it. I want to be a really good player and I get more time I feel that will happen.”
Jonny Brodzinski entered Friday with two points in the previous three games (goals and assists).
However, Philip Chitil's departure to Vancouver on the trade that landed Rangers JT Miller and Mika Zibanejad's switch to wings have now made Brozinski the team's third-line center, at least for now. It's there.
Rabiolet said Brozinski had experience at the center and the experience that emerged from last season was that Brozinski was in AHL Hartford and the organization was aiming to bring him there.
“We thought he might need this. [Hartford’s] The top players have consistently evolved and did a good job,” Rabiolet said.
Rabiolet said the 31-year-old's natural position is on the wings, but added that Brozinski has the traits of success at the center.
“He has the assets to do that,” Rabiolet said of Brozinski. “He's a good, fast, smart player. … He can read things. He's an easy skater and he sees things very well.”
