Mike Sullivan is shaking up the Rangers lines again, and Pavel Dorofeyev is the reason, according to the New York Post.
The Rangers have lost three straight, the last a 3-6 loss to the Kings on Monday night. They're back in action Sunday against the Oilers, so there isn't much time for the new combinations to settle.
Dorofeyev has 3 goals and 5 assists through 14 games, and he sits at -13. For a winger the Rangers were counting on to drive offense, that is a rough start.
It follows Mike Sullivan's earlier line shuffle for Dorofeyev on Friday. The coach clearly isn't willing to wait this one out.
Career-wise, Dorofeyev has 95 goals in 245 regular-season games, so the scoring touch is in there somewhere. On the power play this season he has 1 goal and 3 assists, which means most of his production has come with the man advantage.
The bigger picture is ugly on the road. The Rangers are 6-1-0 at home and 1-5-1 away, and their 44 goals for against 42 against leave a +2 goal differential that doesn't leave much margin.
Can a new look fix the Rangers' road problem?
Moving pieces around is the cheapest tool a coach has, and Sullivan keeps reaching for it. Dorofeyev is the one under the microscope, but the trouble is wider than one winger.
Eighteen goals allowed over the three-game skid is what pushed Sullivan to give the Rangers two days off after 18 goals against. Rest and a reset were the first answer, and the line changes are the second.
New York Post reported that Sullivan made another lineup shakeup to get Dorofeyev going.
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If the production doesn't come, a third change in a few days is hard to rule out. The Rangers sit 20th in the NHL at 7-6-1, and Sunday against Edmonton is the first real look at whether the shakeup works.
Should Mike Sullivan keep shuffling the lines for Pavel Dorofeyev?
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