ARLINGTON, Va. - Alain Vigneault pulled Rick Nash aside at the end of practice Saturday afternoon, seemingly to deliver a message of both support and urgency: Without the big fella producing, the Rangers have little chance at winning consistently.
"No," Vigneault said at the Capitals' Kettler Iceplex, when asked if the Rangers can be effective without Nash on his game. "It's like asking me, 'Can we win a lot of games without Henrik (Lundqvist) playing like Henrik?' Those are two elite players. … In every game, your best players have to be your best. I'm not inventing anything there, just stating facts."
Vigneault will go back to Lundqvist in net for Sunday night's game in Tampa against the Lightning, after Cam Talbot went 2-1-0 in three consecutive starts, losing 3-2 to the Caps on Friday night at the Verizon Center. Lundqvist had surrendered three or more goals in seven straight starts prior to Talbot's run, and the Rangers desperately need him, Nash (no goals in seven games) or Brad Richards (no goals in nine games) to carry them back to respectability.
Other forwards have stepped up recently for the Rangers (18-19-2). Right wing Benoit Pouliot is on a career-high six-game point streak after being a healthy scratch for two out of three in early December.
"I think I was maybe putting too much pressure on myself early on," Pouliot said Friday. "Now, I'm trying not to think too much about doing the right thing and just playing. I'm relaxing and not worrying about getting points or anything like that."
Second-year forward J.T. Miller has excelled in four appearances since his most recent call up, centering a line with Pouliot and recent spark Carl Hagelin. A move back to the pivot from the wing has "made (Miller) focus more on defense," he said Saturday, and his effectiveness "revolves around my skating." Miller also admitted to being in better physical shape this season than his rookie year.
Howard Simmons/New York Daily News
The pressure is on Rick Nash to get his offensive numbers back up to respectability.
"Coming into the league for the first time, it's all new and it can be a little taxing on your wind and legs," Miller said. "So I'd say (my conditioning) is a little better than it was last year."
Sunday night, Vigneault also will have a fresh face on defense, as rookie Conor Allen, 23, will make his NHL debut, given that Anton Stralman (undisclosed injury, day-to-day) did not practice on Saturday, Marc Staal is skating but still not ready to return from his Dec. 7 concussion, and AHL reserve Dylan McIlrath (left knee) is injured.
Allen will be the 26th skater and the 29th player to dress for the Rangers this season. The organization beat out the Nashville Predators in a bidding war for the 6-1, 210-pounder out of UMass-Amherst last spring, and Vigneault liked Allen's "hockey sense" and "upside" during a strong training camp.
After a slow start with the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, Allen has seven points in his last seven games while improving and seeing more power play time.
"The first month or so, the learning curve was really (steep), and I wasn't really playing my best hockey," said Allen, a former college foe of Rangers winger Chris Kreider (Boston College). "But I think I'm getting more comfortable now, and hopefully that translates to the NHL."
Rangers forwards Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello both missed Saturday's practice played through the flu on Friday night, according to the Rangers, and missed Saturday's practice to make sure they're recovered for Sunday's game in Tampa. The team said, though, that both players already were feeling much better Saturday morning.
Captain Ryan Callahan skated for the second straight day, and the first time in full pads since spraining the MCL in his left knee on Dec. 10. On one sequence, Callahan scored on a slapper that looked like one of the hardest shots he's taken all year. He is expected back in mid-January.
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