J.T. Miller (left wrist), Rick Nash (maintenance day) and Anton Stralman (maintenance day) did not participate in the Rangers’ full Monday practice at Greenburgh, but there was no indication from that team at least that Nash’s or Stralman’s were anything serious.
 
Miller said on Saturday that the tendons in his wrist felt loose, but the good news Monday was that the Rangers did say the 21-year-old winger would travel on this week’s three-game road trip to Philadelphia, Ottawa and Montreal. So hopefully he won’t miss much more action than Sunday’s night 3-2 shootout loss to Washington at the Garden.
 
Miller injured the wrist during Thursday’s 3-1 home loss to the Florida Panthers, though he wasn’t sure exactly when.

ZUCCARELLO RETURNING TO RANGERS FOR STRETCH RUN
 
Nash took a hard slash across the wrist from Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner in Sunday night’s game. The slash happened on Nash’s power-play breakaway and earned the Rangers a two-man advantage on which Derek Stepan scored to tie the game, 2-2. But it is unknown whether Nash’s wrist was the cause of his absence on Monday.
 
Tortorella said Monday for the second time in the last week that he needs to see more out of Stralman and hasn’t gotten it.
 
“Quite honestly, Stralsy is a guy that we went after hard last year and raised his level,” Tortorella said Monday. “He has not done that right now, and we’re still OK (on the blue line). So if we can just get him to play a little bit better, I think (Roman) Hamrlik with the minutes that he’s gotten has been steady. We need to stay with that until we get some other things fixed for us to get some consistency.”
 
Tortorella insisted he’s “not criticizing” Stralman, “because I’ve seen him – and this is what I really like about him – I’ve seen him raise his level,” the coach said. “He just hasn’t done that (recently). It’s just a little bit too casual for me right now and at a time that we need him.
 
“So when you don’t score goals, everything gets magnified, and that’s what happens,” Tortorella added. “You start really trying to make up for it the other way. Until we do, we need to have everybody in that (defensive) part of the game raise their level even more until we get some timely goals.”
 
Interestingly enough, when I spoke to Stralman last Thursday in Greenburgh, we were discussing how he had dumped a few players recently around Henrik Lundqvist’s crease, clearly trying to be more physical in front.
 
“They let me know I need to be a little stronger in front of the net and step up my game a little bit,” Stralman said. “So I really tried to focus on the last couple of games on that part around the goalies to protect them a little bit better and prevent some scoring chances.
 
As Stralman pointed out, though, he’s still learning – like on March 14 in Winnipeg, when he didn’t even try to body Jets forward Antti Miettinen away from the net and Miettinen deflected in a pivotal goal.
 
“Sometimes you try and do the right thing and then it doesn’t happen for you,” Stralman said. “There’s always stuff happening. One day it’s a nothing play, and in the Winnipeg game that’s a goal. It happens all the time, and sooner or later one goes in. So that’s just stuff I need to focus a little bit more on, try to get back to the way I want to play.”
 
Stralman provided an interesting perspective on his development since signing with the Rangers in Nov. 2011 out of Sweden, on the process of acclimating to a role on Tortorella’s blue line and on having to earn minutes in New York – where this season so much more is expected of him.
 
“I mean it’s always like that when you come into a new team, and coaches need to get a feel for what you can do,” Stralman said. “It’s obviously a little bit of trust when you come into a new team, and obviously Torts didn’t know who the heck I was, and he actually said that (smiles).
 
“It takes some time to get involved and for everyone to feel comfortable with my game and the way we play also,” he added. “Last year was a great difference coming in from pretty much straight offense to I actually had to play defense. I was learning to play defense consistently.”
 
Stralman said playing that hard, stay-at-home defense “used to be my weak spot and might still be. It’s definitely a part of the game I’ve really improved on. A little frustration with the offensive part, but some days it’s there and some days it’s not, and lately it hasn’t been. So I try to focus there as well, play my game a little bit more.”

STILL COACHING?
23 seconds in:

 
KILL JOY
I caught up with Michael Del Zotto and Steve Eminger, the two defensemen who anchored the Rangers’ 5-on-3 penalty kill for one minute, 42 seconds in Sunday night’s second period.
 
Del Zotto confirmed what John Tortorella had said on Sunday – that he’d never killed a two-man advantage for the Rangers before.
 
“Since I’ve been here I haven’t, no,” Del Zotto said. “You see Mac and Danny, the job they do always on the penalty kill. But the amount of times they bailed us out, the team, as far as penalties and the way they put their bodies on the line blocking shots. I felt that it was my opportunity there to kind of return the favor and help them out.”
 
Del Zotto failed to clear on one occasion when he retrieved the puck, but he was diving and swiping all over the ice behind Ryan Callahan and Derek Stepan to help kill off the Capitals’ two-man advantage. Henrik Lundqvist’s save on a John Carlson slapper from the slot of course helped out.
 
“Mac and Danny are our two main guys who play that situation,” said Eminger, who played with forwards Carl Hagelin and Darroll Powe. “So our goal was just not to let any passes across the crease. But with all the killers and Hank back there, it was a group effort.”
 
THE QUOTE SHEET
 
Del Zotto on Tortorella’s recent comment that he’s not sure anyone ever will take control of the Rangers’ power play: “I think he’s waiting for someone to step up and trying to have someone fill that role. Our power play’s been inconsistent. We’ve had some stretches good, some not so good, but I think in general we haven’t had enough chances. We’ve had one or two (power plays) a game maybe and when you get into the three-four range you start drawing a little more penalties, you start getting more confidence maybe with some more looks and get a little more comfortable out there. So I think as a whole if we play more minutes in the offensive zone we can draw some more penalties and that will allow us to get some confidence and maybe bang one or two in.”
 
Tortorella on how Del Zotto has helped Rangers defense stay strong despite absence of Marc Staal, and how he challenges Del Zotto to stay at that level: “I think it’s a huge step for Michael – stay there now. This is where he’s fluctuated before, but now he’s gone through a bit of a process. He’s been more mature. I’m hoping he can handle that mentally, that ‘You know what? I’ve been there, I’ve been playing well, now I need to stay there.’ And he may even get better when you have an injury like we have with Marc.’
 
Tortorella on the team mindset: “The thing that I keep in the back of my mind, I think we need to stay positive here. We’re treading water, yes. But I still don’t think a lot of the gamebreakers have really found their game, and I believe they will. I hope it comes soon because it’s such a short window here right now, that’s what I hope. And our other parts of our game need to stay there. I think these guys are good people, really good players, and I’m just hoping something sparks them.”
 
Tortorella on Rangers’ need to finish when they get opportunities: “We’d like to create more scoring chances, yeah. We had a couple glorious ones and don’t finish. And that’s what we have to keep in mind is it’s such a fine line on winning or losing, we just need to get a big play at a key time. And that’s the way we’re approaching it. We’re not gonna beat ourselves up. You don’t have enough time. You get ready for your next one and continue to work at your game as an individual and as a team and we just hope we get some spark offensively to score a big goal.”
 
Chris Kreider, who was defensively responsible Sunday night and earned a promotion to Brad Richards’ line, on how he improved in that area while playing with Connecticut Whale: “When we were experiencing some success down there it was because we were breaking up plays in the defensive zone, actually getting chances on the (penalty) kill even. You know you work hard, you break up a play, you can jump up ice and get a chance. So if you work your way back, you can get in transition.”
 
Tortorella on whether Kreider’s defensive responsibility helped the coach trust him enough to move him to Richards’ line: “Chris Kreider has come a long way in that area. I think (Whale coach Ken Gernander) and his staff have done a great job with him down there (in the AHL), and I thought he was on the puck (Sunday) night. And at that point in time I thought that line needed someone on a puck, and so that’s why we do that. Again it doesn’t materialize into any goals, so we’re not sure what we’re going to do with our lines as we get ready for our next one.”
 
Lines fluctuated at Monday’s practice with Nash and Miller taking the day off, but Kreider did skate several times with Richards, while Marian Gaborik took turns with Brian Boyle and Taylor Pyatt – just as he did in the late second and full third period on Sunday.
 
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