BUFFALO — When Alain Vigneault said earlier this week the Rangers need more from their top players, the coach was not only talking about the club’s forwards.
“The only one on ‘D,’ in my opinion, that has really not only has played up to expectations but you see a lot of upswings with is [Ryan] McDonagh,” Vigneault said Thursday morning, hours before the Blueshirts defeated the dreadful Sabres, 3-1. “All of the other guys, I think, have better to give.
“We’re going to need them to give better.”
If the coach needs more from his top defensemen, he said the bottom three blue-liners — John Moore, Michael Del Zotto and Justin Falk — had failed to make the case to move up in the lineup.
“None of those three have proven they can be on the top two pairs,” Vigneault said. “The one that has proven that he is the closest is John Moore.
“John had maybe a little patch of more difficulties the last few games there, but he is a very young player with, in our minds, a tremendous amount of upside. If anybody would show us they deserve to play ahead of [our top four], I’d give them the ice time, but nobody has really come up and played better than those guys.”
Moore had been scratched from each of the previous two games before returning to the lineup against the Sabres while Falk sat out in favor of Del Zotto.
“Both Michael and Falker, it depends more on the [opponent],” Vigneault said. “If you think you need a little more bite [it’s Falk] or you think you need a little more puck movement [it’s Del Zotto].”
Chances are Del Zotto, who played 12:58 (3:23 in the third) in his third straight game and stayed on the left side with Moore switching to the right on the third pair, is being showcased for a trade.
Derek Dorsett, who missed a pair of games on the road last week with a sprained wrist before returning for two at the Garden, was sidelined again on Thursday after aggravating the issue.
When Rick Nash was taken down by Cody Hodgson on a trip immediately after the Buffalo center had been stymied by Henrik Lundqvist at 7:11 of the third, it marked the eighth penalty Nash has drawn in his 12 games. Last season, he somehow only drew nine penalties in 44 games.
Pat LaFontaine, named Sabres’ president of hockey operations on Nov. 13, told The Post he accepted the job, “Because I’m ready for this, eager for the challenge, the owner [Terry Pegula} is the real deal, and because Buffalo is a great city, deserves to have a great team and I’d love to be able to contribute to giving it these people here.”
LaFontaine, who played the final season of his Hall of Fame career with the Rangers and is one of six Sabres to have his number retired, said he has no timetable for selecting a general manager to replace the dismissed Darcy Regier. LaFontaine’s son, Daniel LaFontaine, is playing for the Junior Sabres, who are coached by Michael Peca.