The New York Rangers were back on the ice Monday as they prepare to take on the red-hot Vegas Golden Knights.
Henrik Lundqvist will make his return in net for the New York Rangers on Halloween against the scarily good Las Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL’s newest team, as NHL.com’s Dan Rosen reported Monday.
Lundqvist has missed the Rangers previous two games where the Rangers have gone 1-1-0. On those two days off, the 35-year-old goalie worked with goaltending coach Benoit Allaire, where they addressed some of the issues that the struggling netminder has had of late. Lundqvist has allowed 16 goals in his last five appearances.
Alain Vigneault Knows The Pressure Is On
This hasn’t been the start that the Alain Vigneault and the Rangers thought they would have. Now there are rumblings of the team is on the verge making a coaching change should they fall to the Golden Knights according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post.
This isn’t the first time that Vigneault has had to steer the Rangers from a poor start. In the coach’s first year with the Rangers (2013-2014 season), the team got off to a slow start going 5-7-0 in the team’s first 12 games. Vigneault would lead the team their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 20 years.
Vigneault is counting on his players to step up in a big way so that the front office isn’t forced to make a coaching change.
Player Reactions To A Potential Coaching Change
The writing is on the wall in the Rangers’ locker room. They know what’s going on and are the only ones that can influence what happens when it comes to determining Vigneault’s fate.
One positive about this group is that they still fight and find ways to come back in games that they trail. That might be the only thing that has kept Vigneault with a job so far.