We would say that the last time something like this happened was when John Tortorella placed Marian Gaborik in the third period of Game 5 of the 2012 Rangers conference finals against Devils, except that doing so was practically a standard operating procedure for the coach.
Consequently, no shock value exists.
That, however, on Thursday night in Newark was different. This was different with David Quinn, who for the first time in his three seasons behind the bench hit one of the top Rangers players by drastically reducing Mika Zibanejad’s freeze time in the first period before putting him in the top 10 places: 46 of second.
Finally, after weeks of giving Zibanejad the benefit of the doubt he won not only in the final stretch of last season, but throughout the center’s work under Quinn, the coach had seen enough after another period when the Swede was a figure on the ice.
And then he sat him down. He sat down with him after an irregular opening for the entire team 20 minutes, in which the Devils only managed to build a 1-0 advantage thanks to Igor Shesterkin’s exceptional game on the nets, and he sat at the midpoint of the second, moment when the Blueshirts had tied it 1-1 in the goal of Chris Kreider’s strength game.
Shock value here, right.
“I didn’t love his game, I didn’t love what we were seeing – I didn’t love our first period very much – but obviously he had a difficult start to the season and maybe staying with him for a while would give him a little shock and a little shock to our team, ”said Quinn after the Blueshirts returned to the 6-1 win. “I liked what I saw when he came back.
“I was just going to see how he was playing, how he was competing, how he was skating. If I thought I saw an increase in his game, I would continue to play with him, and if not, he would remain seated. It really came down to that. “
This was a game full of headlines. Kreider, in one of his patented Did. You. See. Chris! streak, recorded his second hat-trick in five games, giving him nine goals in the last six games. Shesterkin, who raised his game over the fortnight, was forced to leave with 5:52 left after suffering an apparent injury to his right leg that could force him to lose a period of time. If so, it will have significant ramifications for this 9-9-3 team that has been 5-2 in the last seven.
But the bank of Zibanejad will reverberate. You never know how a proud player like Zibanejad would react to something like that. You also don’t know how your teammates and best friends will react. We will not forget. He was one of the best players in the world last season. He was one of the best centers in the league in the previous year. And he was put on the bench.
“I think he is leaving the statistics and all the pressure slowing him down a little bit,” said Quinn. “I think it’s affecting him.
“This is a guy who has been a fearless player, has been a brave player and is still a guy who goes into battle, but something is missing. We certainly kept trying to let him play his way, he certainly won that opportunity, but now we have to continue playing with the guys who are playing well. “
Zibanejad played with purpose in his 13 final rounds and 9:05 of ice, continuing to stand out in the death penalty unit that went from 4 to 4 in this one. He was involved, jumped on a free disc to prepare Alexis Lafreniere for the dart that made it 6-1 at 18:27 from the third to the freshman’s sixth point (3-3) in the last six games.
(And, wow boy, Quinn suddenly got a lot better at child development, correct?)
Zibanejad’s decline was shrouded in mystery. Its long-range ramifications and overview are clear. But the small-scale ramifications of this bench will also be glaring. There is no doubt that his companions protect him, with Kreider issuing an unsolicited testimony, similar to that of a captain, in support of his beleaguered friend and colleague. You could almost hear Mark Messier defending Brian Leetch. Almost.
This was a significant night for Rangers and Quinn, who won a star and whose team responded with a dominant 40 minutes.
“I think that every time you sit down one of your best players, it certainly gives everyone an alert and I just thought we would get better as the game progressed,” said the coach. “If it has anything to do with it, I don’t know.”
The Rangers and Quinn had been waiting for Zibanejad for 20 games. The coach did not wait for 21. Now we all wait to see how the alternate captain will respond to that.