SAN JOSE, Calif. — Peter Laviolette deployed about 10 different line combinations during the Rangers' 5-2 win over the Ducks on Sunday night, something the head coach hasn't done much this season. .
Laviolette has only made personnel or position changes a few times based on performance, and only a few times has he thrown lineups into a blender in-game.
Most lineup changes are unavoidable due to injuries or other external factors beyond our control.
Despite the team's record being 11-11-2 since Dec. 5, Laviolette expressed confidence in the Rangers' current setup, which also started the season with an 18-4-1 record. fought.
“I think some really good things have happened this year in terms of having some consistency,” the 59-year-old coach said before the Rangers lost 3-2 in overtime to the Sharks at SAP Center. . “Sometimes, it's weird, but I think I'll take the time to mix it up, try to look in a different direction, and just shake it up. A different perspective. Sometimes it's good to change your perspective. That's how this year has gone and I can't say I've always been this consistent as a coach.
“We've only had a few upheavals in the game. I think that's because, for the most part, we've stayed consistent. Even with some of the recent losses, the one against Montreal and the two that followed. , going back three games, I thought we were on the hunt.
“We didn't give up too many shots, 45, 47, 48, but the game didn't go the way we wanted. When the game doesn't go the way we want it, that's when it's time to shake up the game and move it in a different direction. Maybe.”
So the Rangers started out the same way they did Sunday night in Anaheim, with Igor Shesterkin scoring a goal.
Through 47 games, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad have skated next to each other, all except for the Jan. 11 game when Zibanejad was sick and suffered a last-minute scrape. They kept Kaapo Kakko on the right wing. 17 games, Blake Wheeler 25 games, Johnny Brodzinski 3 games, Will Quill 1 game. And in the Jan. 11 game, Zibanejad suffered a last-minute scrape due to illness.
Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere have played on the same side for all 46 games. Filip Sitil was the two-man center for 10 games before going down with a suspected concussion, and Vincent Trocheck has now skated in that spot for 36 straight games.
The Rangers reassigned Matthew Robertson to AHL Hartford on Monday.
