Alain Vigneault furrowed his brow and thought about this one, the coach knowing he has some difficult decisions sitting in front of him.
Still suffering from the inconsistency that has plagued the start of the Rangers' season, Vigneault is now faced with a fully healthy team, and in turn, strapped with the task of trying to dress a lineup that could pull his squad out of this malaise.
But would he change the lineup just for a shake-up, and not necessarily as an indictment on individual players?
"That," he said after Sunday's practice, "that's a real tough balancing act."
Vigneault said he had no definitive plans yet on the lineup for Monday's Garden match against the first-place Penguins, yet he didn't seem set on any sort of large-scale change.
"I believe you have to trust your players, and you have to believe they can do the right thing at the right time, especially when they've done it in the past," he said.
"And how long you go with that trust is a matter of feel and experience. And I would say, based on my reaction today, for the most part I'd probably stay pretty close to what we were doing. I might make some adjustments on the power play, some changes to maybe see something else."
That would likely start with inserting defenseman John Moore back into the lineup after he sat in favor of Matt Hunwick for Saturday's brutal 3-2 loss to the Red Wings in Detroit. Moore practiced with the second power-play unit on Sunday, while Dan Boyle and Ryan McDonagh were the points with the top group. The mix-up was done in hopes of sparking a power-play group that went 0-for-7 in Detroit, including 2:36 of five-on-three with a chance to tie the game in the third period.
"Just wanted to take a quick look at that," Vigneault said. "Haven't had the opportunity yet to see what Mac and Dan could do together. We'll see what we decide."
It was also glaring that Rick Nash, by far the team's most productive forward through this 11-10-4 start, hardly touched the puck during the two five-on-three chances while he was positioned at his regular spot in front of the net. Vigneault was loudly adamant about "establishing the shot" on the power play, which would then put Nash in a good spot for a deflection or a rebound, even if that means he could go minutes without touching it.
"It's still something where I'm trying to draw attention to me so other guys are open, to get position on guys in front," Nash said. "And still, at the same time, you're trying to create a screen for when you do get a shot. So there are a lot of things going on in front of the net there."
It also seems rugged forward Tanner Glass will be ready to return from his four-game absence due to the mumps — that is, if Vigneault wants to bring him back into the fold. Glass took turns on the fourth line in practice, alternating with J.T. Miller.
Then forward Chris Kreider, struggling mightily to find his game, had a strange collision with Carl Hagelin late in practice and went to the ice in pain. He was woozy and left the ice, not to return.
Vigneault said he had no update on Kreider's status, but that he watched the play develop and "didn't really see anything."
All of it is seemingly up in the air for Vigneault, as the memory of blowing a 2-0 lead in a matter of 61 seconds was still fresh in his mind, and options for a solution were aplenty.
"I loved most of our game five-on-five, except for two backchecking situations within a one-minute span there," Vigneault said. "Does that destroy everything else that we did? That's the balancing act that you have to sort out as a head coach."
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