CALGARY, Alberta — How happy is Rangers coach Alain Vigneault with the play of John Moore?
Dis-happy.
No, wait.
“Not dis-happy.”
Meaning, in the Quebec-born Vigneault’s application of the English language; “Not unhappy.”
Of course, that didn’t prevent the coach from scratching Moore in favor of Matt Hunwick for Tuesday’s 5-2 victory against the Flames. It marked the third time in the last eight games Moore watched in street clothes.
“It’s not that Johnny’s playing bad, it’s just right now he’s fighting for that sixth spot and didn’t play real bad, but Hunny had played real well prior to that,” Vigneault said, before inventing a new word that hadn’t been part of any language other than Brooklynese. “I’m not dis-happy … unhappy … dis-happy.”
Moore, though, has not played with enough decisiveness, effectiveness or physicality to nail down a regular spot on the blue line. Indeed, the 24-year-old played just 12:06 in Edmonton on Sunday on the second night of a back-to-back. Hunwick had not played since Dec. 5 in Detroit.
“I didn’t want Hunwick sitting out too long,” Vigneault said. “So I made the change.”
Hunwick, who won the training camp competition for seventh defensemen, had played 21 straight filling in first for the injured Dan Boyle and then for the injured Ryan McDonagh, before sitting against the Red Wings.
The Rangers, who had only one man-advantage in their previous two games and had been 0-for-12 on the power play over their previous four, went 1-for-3, with Chris Kreider getting the power-play goal to break his own 13-game drought.
Rick Nash became the fourth-fastest Ranger to hit the 20-goal mark in doing so in the club’s 29th game. Jaromir Jagr had 20 in 24 games on his way to a franchise-record 54 in 2005-06 while Marian Gaborik got there in his 25th game and the team’s 27th in 2009-10 and Vic Hadfield reached the milestone in Game 26 of his 50-goal, 1971-72 season.