Jimmy Vesey was scratched for the third straight game and fourth of the last six in the Rangers’ 5-1 defeat against the Kings at the Garden on Saturday and to hear head coach Peter Laviolette talk about it, it’s not about what the veteran has failed to do on the ice.
“Jimmy’s been a very good player, but when somebody is out of the lineup, and you could say the same thing for Jonny [Brodzinski], but Jimmy has been good when he’s been in there, but at this point, I’ve made a decision to go with a different player,” Laviolette said. “At this point, I like what that player is doing on the ice.
“That doesn’t mean that any player who is out of the lineup is necessarily doing something wrong.”
Laviolette has chosen to go with the energetic, more physical, 22-year-old Brett Berard in Vesey’s place on the right side of the fourth line featuring Sam Carrick in the middle and Adam Edstrom on the left. Berard was promoted from the AHL Wolf Pack on Nov. 24 when Filip Chytil was out of the lineup dealing with upper-body issues.
Chris Kreider missed some time, Reilly Smith was scratched for a game, Berard went down for three games with an upper-body issue of his own when crunched by Kirby Dach on Nov. 30. He returned Dec. 9 against Chicago, bumping Vesey out of the lineup.
This is the first time since returning to the Rangers in 2022-23 that the 31-year-old winger has been scratched for more than a single game at a time. Vesey, who has three points (2-1) in 15 games while getting an average of 9:34 of ice time, was scratched once early in 2022-23 and then twice in the first week last season under Laviolette.
Vesey was on LTIR for the opening 10 games with a lower-body injury he sustained early in camp. Primarily combining with Carrick and Edstrom since his Nov. 3 debut, the fourth line has had a 51.23 Corsi over 96:28 while on for two goals scored and three against with a 53.34 expected goal share.
With Berard, the unit had recorded a 59.26 Corsi over 13:13 while on for no goals scored and two against with a 50.43 xGF entering this one.
“I think they’re different players,” Laviolette said of Vesey and Berard. “I think Jimmy has done a really good job usually starting in the defensive zone, I thought the line was effective and that could also be said when Jonny was on it.
“But [Thursday with Berard] I liked the way that line played in Buffalo and were maybe our best and most effective line.”
“But I don’t really have an answer about Jimmy,” the head coach said. “He’s a good player but right now he is caught in the numbers.”
Igor Shesterkin was pulled at the 5:04 mark of the second period after surrendering five goals on 21 shots. The start was his 22nd in the club’s 29th game. He made his 22nd start last year in Game 35; in Game 30 in 2022-23; and in Game 39 in 2021-22, during which he was sidelined for three-plus weeks in December with a lower-body issue.
Chad Ruhwedel, recalled from Hartford to serve as the seventh defenseman, was scratched for the 16th time in between his one game for the Blueshirts (Oct. 19 at Toronto) and 11 games for the Wolf Pack during his three previous assignments.
The Rangers embark on their final pre-Christmas road tour, in St. Louis on Sunday, Nashville on Tuesday and Dallas on Friday.
