Zac Jones gets another chance to give Rangers ‘exactly what we’re looking for’ against Penguins
Zac Zones acquitted himself quite nicely in his first game back in the New York Rangers lineup Wednesday after sitting up in the press box the previous 18. Now, he gets another opportunity in the spotlight when the Rangers host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
Jones is in the lineup again because Urho Vaakanainen remains out with an illness. The 24-year-old logged 13:30 TOI paired with Braden Schneider on the third defense pair in a 3-2 come-from-behind win against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday and will try to replicate his solid play against the Penguins.
“Offensively, I think he sees the game really well, he’s a good skater, he makes a good first pass. He was reading the situations from a defensive standpoint and then arriving there quickly and making sure there was some attitude in those battles,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said after the morning skate. “I thought that was clearly evident the other night.”
Laviolette emphasized that the coaching staff had conversations with Jones about precisely what was expected from him when he played for the first time since Dec. 23.
“If you know what you need to do, you have the opportunity to go out and execute it. And I thought he executed it pretty well,” Laviolette said.
It was a pretty low event game for Jones, who was on ice for Artemi Panarin’s game-opening goal 6:07 into the second period and two scoring chances for each team. His XGF was 56.15 percent, per Natural Stat Trick, and he finished with one shot on goal and one blocked shot.
After the game, Laviolette was full of praise for Jones.
“I thought he was really good,” he said. “Not just moving the puck and the skating, but for me, it was the way he attacked defensively in the defensive zone. The way he closed, there was extra attitude in what he was doing out there. That’s what we’ve been looking for, too.”
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Jones recently boiled over when speaking with reporters about his lack of playing time since the arrivals of defensemen Vaakanainen and Will Borgen in December trades.
“It’s tough. It’s really [expletive] tough,” Jones said at the turn of the New Year. “I mean, I’m just generally a pretty easygoing, happy person. And no matter what is going on in my life, I’m gonna try and come to the rink with a smile on my face . . . But it [expletive] sucks. Like, there’s nothing else I can say about it.”
He added at that time he’d speak with his agent and likely to general manager Chris Drury about his future. Whether that happened or not, Jones didn’t play a single game in January, when the Rangers rebounded from a two-month malaise with an 8-3-3 record.
Jones began the season in a regular third-pair role, taking the place of Erik Gustafsson, who signed with the Detroit Red Wings in the offseason. He was scratched in favor of rookie Victor Mancini for a bit and ultimate by Vaakanainen these past two months. Mancini, who hade been playing with Hartford in the American Hockey League, was traded last week to the Vancouver Canucks, part of the J.T. Miller deal.
Jones has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 27 games this season. He had nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 31 games in 2023-24.
On Friday, Jones preferred to discuss the win against the Bruins and not his situation.
“It was a great win for the guys the other night. It was a good game for the team as a whole and for myself personally,” Jones said after the skate. “It was definitely rewarding to get back into the lineup and get a win.”
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