"We're making good strides right now, I think our game's coming together," said Brady Skjei. "Start of the year we were good in the O zone one game, then good in the D zone the other game. We're kind of meshing that together and I think we had two pretty good games this week."
"The last two games in particular there's been a calmer feel, it's not been the fire-alarm situation of giving up those crazy odd-man rushes. I think we have made strides in that area," Quinn said. "D zone I think we've done a pretty good job overall, protecting and being layered so if there is a breakdown we're in good position to recover. We haven't had a lot of flurries - teams get chances but it's really one and out, which is really what you want to do. Your goalie will make that first (save), you don't want to give up that second or third chance off that opportunity. We've done a good job in that department."
It's possible things may grow a little bit calmer when it comes to the lineup, at least up front. Quinn has used seven different lineups in the season's first seven games, but on Friday in practice the forwards lined up just as they had on Wednesday in Washington.
That includes Filip Chytil, who bounced between positions on Wednesday, back on the left wing in practice, skating with Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello. Quinn is trying it out to get Chytil more ice time and to spare the 19-year-old some of the defensive-zone burden that centers carry.
"I think he's pressing a little bit for a goal. I think once one goes in the weight of the world will be lifted off his shoulders," Quinn said. "He's not unlike any 19-year-old playing in this league, they want to have success and I think he might be pressing a little bit. But he's going to stay with those guys and he's going to continue to play, and as long as he continues to put forth an effort, we're going to let him play.
"We think very highly of him, we think he's going to be a big piece of our future, and we think he can be good right now - this isn't just about the future, this is about us winning hockey games right now, and we think he can help us."
The Flames will be looking for their first win at Madison Square Garden in a decade. New Jersey product Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk lead Calgary with 10 points apiece following their loss to the Predators on Friday night at the Saddledome. Those two certainly are familiar to a few Rangers: Hayes and Chris Kreider were teammates with Gaudreau on Boston College's national championship team in 2012, while Vesey and Gaudreau were linemates at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Russia, winning gold for the United States. Hayes and Tkachuk, meanwhile, are cousins.
"We've faced some pretty high-end players in the last three or four games we've played and he's no different," Quinn said of Gaudreau. "We've certainly got to be aware of where he is on the ice. But I think Mika's line has done a really good job of handling the other team's top players."
"Really strong agile skater, obviously high-end skill," Kreider said of Gaudreau, with whom he lined up on power plays during BC's championship season. "So it's another guy - McDavid, MacKinnon, Ovechkin, Kuznetsov the last three, four games for us. We've just got to not let them jumpstart their transition and their skill, and make them play defense as much as you can, try to wear them down that way."
Mika Zibanejad, whose line with Kreider and Jesper Fast has stayed together amid the lineup tweaks, started the scoring Wednesday in Washington and has two goals in three games, and Kreider scored the late tying goal, his team-best fourth of the year, that allowed the Rangers to secure a point.
With Alexandar Georgiev joining Hartford to see some game action this weekend - Georgiev made 25 saves in a Wolf Pack victory at Belleville on Friday night - Marek Mazanec will back up Henrik Lundqvist, who has a .930 save percentage in one of the best starts to a season in his career. Georgiev is expected back with the Rangers for Tuesday's game against Florida.
