Connor McKee certainly made an impression when he joined the Rangers’ lineup at the last minute in the final game before the All-Star break against the Senators.
The 27-year-old blueliner ignited his team by dropping gloves with Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk.
For most people, it may have been overshadowed by the fact that Zach Jones was also performing well in just his third of the Rangers’ last 10 games at the time.
But that wasn’t the case for head coach Peter Laviolette.
“I really liked what Mackey did. I told him that after the game when we brought him back to rest,” Laviolette said Monday night at the Garden, where the Rangers defeated the Avalanche 2-1 in overtime. He spoke before breaking it. “I thought he played a great game for us. I also thought Jonesy, who’s been here all year, played great. I thought he [Erik Gustafsson] Their game and the way they played it was great. We have guys who have been here all year and finally got a chance to play.
“He’s been a really good Soldier for us and he works hard every day. Great temperament. Great work ethic. Great teammate. Positive attitude. He just came out of his own monster game. There was no point in jumping up the rankings.”
That’s why Jones was called up again on Monday night to replace Rangers captain Jacob Trouba, who served the final game of a two-game suspension.
The Massachusetts native returned to Gustafsson’s left post on the Rangers’ bottom pairing, while K’Andre Miller teamed up with Braden Schneider in Trouba’s absence.
The pair of Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox remained.
Jones finished with two blocks and one takeaway in a season-best 18 minutes, 07 seconds of ice time in the win.
Artemi Panarin scored his 31st goal of the season in the third period Monday night.
He joins Chris Kreider (age 33 in 2021-22) and Rick Nash (age 33 in 2014-15) as only three Rangers players in the last 25 years to score that many points through 50 games. is.
Jonathan Quick, making his 757th career start, improved his season record to 11-4-2, tying him with Gilles Melouche for the 30th most starts in NHL history.
“It really just gave us a chance to win,” Mika Zibanejad said. “That’s what you get every night no matter what. Quickie was great, he was unbelievable tonight.”
Monday was Black History Night at the Garden, with Jermaine Paul singing a special national anthem and a 10,000-seater in honor of local heroes who have “made a difference in our community among several additional efforts.” A dollar donation was made.
