Practice Notebook: No Dwelling as Rangers Get Back to Work

DALLAS - On Wednesday afternoon, the Rangers returned to the rink in Dallas for one last practice before hitting the road for Thursday's matchup at Detroit.
There was no dwelling on Tuesday's 1-0 loss at the hands of the Stars. Instead, there was plenty of focus on the key areas of development that emerged from Tuesday's game - in particular, the need to put more pucks on net - but there was no dwelling.
Each of the Blueshirts' last three games have come against teams fighting for playoff positioning, and in each of those games, they have played, and played hard, until the final second. The resolve has been there, as has the drive and the hunger.
Naturally, though, there is a desire to find ways to turn those one-goal losses into hard-fought wins.

"You have to show some emotions," said Mika Zibanejad. "If you're OK with the one-goal losses] and you're not frustrated, then something's wrong, I think. We've just got to bear down. We've been playing well, we've been close in games, but it's still not enough. You want to win games, you want to kind of get on a roll - that's why we play. I think it's hard not to be frustrated. It's just how you deal with it and not let it take over your mind and your game, so we've got to find a way to get a win here, and hopefully that could get us going."
There is no question that the Rangers are encouraged by the effort they have consistently shown for the better part of the last two months. But the fact that they're encouraged doesn't mean they're content.
"There are things we can do better," said Head Coach David Quinn. "There are things that are in our control that can put us in a situation where we're not losing these one-goal games - we're winning them. And one of the things we've got to do a better job at is get to the net more. Conversely, we have to defend our net front better. There's certainly things we can do better to put ourselves in a better position to win hockey games as opposed to losing tough games.
"At the end of the day, you look across this league, a lot of them are one-goal games. Obviously we've played more than anybody, but there are things in our control that we can do to make it a better result and we've got to continue to work on that."
Chief among those things are doing a better job of protecting the front of the net and, conversely, being more aggressive at the other end.
"Obviously, we can shoot a little bit more and take advantage of the chances we get," Zibanejad said.
That's something Quinn has preached since the day he arrived in New York, and nothing about his message has changed. As such, much of Wednesday's practice agenda revolved around that message.
"We need to shoot more pucks," Quinn reiterated on Wednesday. "We've heard that from Day 1. It's just something where we've got to create more of a shooting mentality."![
Penalty Rescinded
On Wednesday, the Rangers received word that the NHL rescinded the major penalty for boarding and the game misconduct issued to Zibanejad for a hit on Dallas' Radek Faksa with 9:53 left in regulation on Tuesday.
"It's good for Mika," Quinn said. "Can't think about it now. Got to move forward and get ready for Detroit."
Following practice, Zibanejad explained what he saw on the play.
"I tried to get in front of [Faksa] and get the puck because it was right there," he said. "The way he went down, I thought he hit his head on the ice. That's why I kind of stayed - just wanted to make sure he was OK."
Like Quinn, though, he wasn't interested in spending time dwelling on the penalty or the eventual reversal, instead acknowledging that the officiating crew has a tough job to do and reiterating that he has already moved on.
"I can't help the situation," he said. "Whether you're hurt or you get a penalty, you want to be out there to help your team, and when you're not able to do that, it's frustrating."
Quinn on Lias Andersson
Although 20-year-old Lias Andersson served as a healthy scratch on Tuesday for the first time since being recalled on Feb. 21, Quinn made it clear on Wednesday that the decision was in no way performance-related.
In fact, Quinn sees a significant difference in Andersson now in comparison to his first NHL stint this season, a 21-game stretch that began in early November and lasted just past Christmas.
"I think there's a maturity side that's kind of evolved since [training camp]," Quinn said. "I think he's got a better understanding of what it's going to take for him to have success at this level. He has done a great job with his conditioning and his mindset and just working at his game. I just feel really good about where he's at."
Practice Absences
After practice, Quinn confirmed that forward Jesper Fast's absence was due to maintenance.
Defenseman Marc Staal, the only other Blueshirt missing from the ice, came down with the flu on Tuesday. He still played against the Stars but will be a gametime decision on Thursday vs. the Red Wings.