Head coach Mike Sullivan was a late scratch Sunday, missing the Rangers’ 2-1 loss to the Red Wings for personal reasons.
When the Rangers begin their three-game Western swing on Tuesday in Las Vegas, Sullivan could be missing from the bench again.
“I don’t have an update right now,” assistant coach David Quinn said after the game. “From the coaches to the players to the organization, we’re certainly thinking about Mike and his family. It’s never an easy situation when you have to attend to your family.”
Quinn, who served as Rangers head coach for three seasons, split the head coaching responsibilities with Joe Sacco.
Should the assistants need to stand in for Sullivan again, Quinn doesn’t foresee it being an issue for the team.
“It was very simple for Joe and I because I’ve been managing the [defense] all year and Joe has been helping Mike with the lines,” Quinn said. “There really wasn’t a lot of change to it. It was a pretty seamless situation for us and the players.”
One week after calling up Gabe Perreault in hopes of igniting their offense, the Rangers sent the 20-year-old back down to Hartford (AHL) on Sunday.
Sullivan put Perreault in position to succeed, placing the youngster on the top line with J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad. But the 5-foot-11, 2023 first-round pick struggled to make the most of his opportunity, seeing limited touches and small windows to operate, while recording two shots on goal in three games and one assist. Perreault averaged 13:09 in the three games.
“This isn’t an easy league,” Quinn said. “He’s got an awful lot of talent, and he’s got a bright future in this league, but this is a man’s league. Gabe did some good things while he was up here, but when Gabe’s here, he plays on the top two lines, and when you [do], you play against everyone’s top [defensive] pairings and everybody’s best players.”That can get a little overwhelming for you physically and with the pace. We just felt like this was part of the growing process and the development process for him. Give him an opportunity to come here, play meaningful games, and now he’s going back down, and I’m sure this experience will be beneficial to his development.”
Defenseman Scott Morrow was recalled from Hartford and made his NHL debut, seeing 9:56 of ice time. … Defenseman Will Borgen missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
