Rangers’ success gives Peter Laviolette freedom to mix PK pairings
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When the Rangers send out the NHL’s sixth-best penalty-killing unit, they do so with mixed defensive pairs from five-on-five.
Instead of the Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba tandems, the more physically inclined Lindgren and Trouba pair up while the more finesse-oriented Fox and Miller do the same.
Style, though, is only part of it as head coach Peter Laviolette explained following the club’s practice at the Bentley University rink outside of Boston in advance of chartering to Toronto for Tuesday’s match against the Maple Leafs.
“It’s kind of like a power play, I guess, you don’t necessarily go by lines there,” he said. “It’s not that the second guy or the third guy out the door aren’t very good. They are. But we don’t mix up the power-play unit because we feel those are the first five guys that should be on the ice.
“The same kind of holds true for the penalty killing. Defensive pairings are one thing. For me, the two D who start [the PK] are really good at what they do, no disrespect to the other guys who are very good as well.
“Lindy is a good defensive defenseman. This is what he does,” Laviolette said. “This is his time to shine for us and he should be the first guy out.”
The Lindgren-Trouba pair has been on for 77:39 of the 165:59 the Blueshirts have been shorthanded, per Natural Stat Trick.
The Miller-Braden Schneider pair has the second-most PK ice time at 18:20, with Schneider filling in for Fox while he was sidelined for 10 games last month.
The Rangers, who have a success rate of 85.3 percent (14-for-95) on the PK, have killed 17 of 19 over the last six contests.
“From the beginning of the year where we were figuring out those routes and how we were going to go about our business, I think the guys now completely understand what we’re supposed to do,” said the coach. “That’s been good, the effort has been good, the details for the group has been good. Blocking shots the way we do is good.”
Having played in his 10th game on Saturday in Boston, Jonny Brodzinski would now have to be placed on waivers before he could be sent back to AHL Hartford, The Post has confirmed with the proper authorities.
The 30-year-old winger, originally recalled under emergency conditions, has recorded one goal and five assists for six points in 10 games.
He has skated primarily on the right with Nick Bonino in the middle and Will Cuylle on the left.
Igor Shesterkin, who has erased from his mind last week’s misadventure in which he surrendered six goals on 29 shots in the Nov. 12, 7-3 defeat to the Leafs at the Garden, is in line to get the assignment in Toronto.
The Rangers follow this one with a back-to-back at the Garden on Friday and Saturday, respectively, against the Oilers and Caps.
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