John Tortorella is worried about his rookies. So worried, he hardly played them.
In last night’s 4-2 win over the Jets at the Garden, the Rangers coach gave J.T. Miller 7:08 of ice time and Chris Kreider 3:23, neither playing at all in the third period.
“We play so many close games, it’s just too many mistakes,” Tortorella said. “But, quite honestly, I’m worried about the two kids. Not that I’m upset with them, I just think the stakes are high, we play so many close games, and I just have to watch how they go through the game and, ‘Do I trust them?’ ”
Since Kreider, 21, was recalled from the Connecticut Whale (AHL) on March 20, he has seen his ice time steadily decrease from his second game to last night. During the Rangers’ 3-0 loss to the Canadiens in Montreal on Saturday, Kreider was demoted to the fourth line as Marian Gaborik was bumped up.
Miller, 20, seemingly became a fixture among the top six forwards, but for all of his offensive chances, he still hasn’t scored since the second game of his promotion on Feb. 7, a stretch of 23 games. He has also made some ghastly turnovers.
“I’m kind of up in the air there,” Tortorella said about his two rookies, “because I don’t want to screw up their development. Stakes are too high right now. So we’ll see where we go.”
Although both have been considered untouchable within the organization, the NHL trade deadline is tomorrow at 3 p.m.
* In his two games since returning to the Rangers, Norwegian winger Mats Zuccarello has added visible offensive creativeness, especially last night, when he started the game on a line with Gaborik and Brad Richards.
But in the second period, Zuccarello took two high-sticking penalties and another for closing his hand on the puck — a new rule instituted this season, while Zuccarello was playing in the KHL.
Tortorella admitted no one had told Zuccarello about the rule change.
“We’re dying on the vine here, I’m not going to run over to Zuke and say, ‘Now remember Zuke, you can’t put your hand on the puck,’ ” Tortorella said, cracking up the room in his postgame press conference. “Yeah, it was unfortunate.”
The Rangers signed 20-year-old defenseman Tommy Hughes of the London Knights (OHL).