ANAHEIM, Calif. — Rick Nash, concussed for the second time in eight months following the head shot he took from Brad Stuart in San Jose on Tuesday, returned to New York Thursday morning and will thus be sidelined for Saturday’s match in St. Louis after missing Thursday night’s 6-0 defeat to the Ducks.
Nash, who was forced to leave the 9-2 defeat to the Sharks after the first period with what he described as a “headache [that] got worse as it went on,” will be conservative regarding a return to the ice in light of last season’s experience.
Last season, Nash played through symptoms for two games after his head had been slammed into the glass by Boston’s Milan Lucic on Feb. 12. The winger ultimately missed four games over a 10-day period.
There is, therefore, no guarantee Nash will be available next Wednesday when the Rangers face the Capitals in Washington. Indeed, the Oct. 19 game in New Jersey is probably a more realistic target date.
This is obviously not the optimum scenario for the Blueshirts, who were outscored 18-6 in losing two of their first three games, the last one in embarrassing fashion.
“It’s not ideal, that’s for sure,” said Brad Richards, who is shifting to the middle against the Ducks in a radical reconstruction that also features realigned defensive pairings. “We want Rick back and we need him, but we have to step up and we certainly can’t dwell on it.”
The Rangers addressed the San Jose debacle in a post-game meeting that, for part of the time at least, included general manager Glen Sather and coach Alain Vigneault. Then following a CBA-mandated off-day on Wednesday, Vigneault lectured the club before Thursday’s morning skate.
“We saw what it was,” Vigneault said of the debacle. “I addressed it with the team this morning and now our sole focus is on what we have to do to beat a very good team in Anaheim.
“We had a good game in L.A. and I believe the team I saw in L.A. are the real Rangers,” he said of the 3-1 victory. “We had real good bite and a lot of feistiness.”
When a team plays for a coach for a substantial amount of time, the players come to know what to expect the reaction would be to a performance like the one in San Jose.
For this group, though, this is the first time under Vigneault.
“We kind of knew what to expect,” Ryan Callahan said. “I don’t think any of us thought it was going to be a great reaction. Every [coach] acts differently, but we definitely got the message. We have to learn from it and respect it, but now we’re moving on from it.
“I think some changes needed to be made. I think we needed a bit of a shakeup.”
As Richards slides between Callahan and Benoit Pouliot, Derek Stepan will center Taylor Pyatt and Jesper Fast, who returns to the lineup after a pair of games as a healthy scratch. Brian Boyle moves from the middle to the wing to skate with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello while the Arron Asham-Dominic Moore-Derek Dorsett fourth line remains intact.
“With Rick out, the equation obviously changes the lineup from the top with our skill level,” Vigneault said. “I felt we needed better balance.”
Vigneault also shifted his defense pairs, reuniting the Marc Staal-Dan Girardi combo while moving Ryan McDonagh onto Anton Stralman’s left side and shifting Michael Del Zotto to the right with John Moore.
“I thought that Anton was our best defenseman last game, and I felt by making those changes it would give us better balance offensively and defensively,” Vigneault said.
Of course, success in Anaheim is predicated on the Rangers approaching the match with a dramatically different mindset than they did in San Jose.
“The big thing we have to do is trust each other and have pride in the name and the emblem on the jersey,” said Richards, who had been the club’s best forward through three games. “Hockey mentality has to take over; if the score is 6-1 or 6-2, you still play to the end.
“We’ll miss Rick, but that can’t change the way we have to play; it would be a long year if you change things every time a player is out. You have to have structure. You can’t play like it’s summer league.”