Jimmy Vesey is a young guy, too.
“It’s like I became a veteran overnight,” the 25-year-old out of Harvard said. “The two or three years that I’ve been here, we’ve developed somewhat of a core group that I’m a part of. It’s a good dynamic. It’s a good feeling.”
Suddenly, there is a very good feeling around the Rangers, who are winning with far more regularity than expected. Sunday’s 3-1 victory over the Sabres at the Garden represented not only the team’s third straight victory but elevated the record to a respectable 6-7-1 that moved the team to within three points of the second wild-card spot.
Whether this little burst serves the long-term interest of the franchise is a topic for another day, or perhaps another week or month, but there is no denying this team’s compete level. Hard work is becoming the Blueshirts’ badge.
Becoming Vesey’s, too, in Year 3 on Broadway.
“I think I’m kind of establishing a little identity as a hard worker in all situations,” Vesey said after a two-goal night that included a snipe from the right circle and a long one into the empty net that both clinched the match and allowed the team to avoid developing a neurosis about defending against the extra attacker. “The word for me is, ‘engaged.’
“When I’m engaged, I’m at my best. I’m doing enough that I don’t have to score to contribute. I think I’m more engaged than the past years.”
His first two years, Vesey would describe himself as a scorer. He surely still thinks of himself that way. But David Quinn has demanded an additional heaping tablespoon of fiber out of every player, without exception. That should suit Vesey, whose most memorable games since spurning both Nashville and Buffalo to sign with the Rangers as a free agent in 2016 came against Montreal in the first round of the 2017 playoffs, when he brought a brand of hard-hat hockey to the rink.
“Jimmy has a different mindset,” Quinn said. “He wasn’t very happy with his year last year. I think it helps a little bit that I knew him before [becoming coach] and he also had a relationship with [assistant coach] Greg Brown, but I also think regardless of who the coach was going to be, he was going to have a better year.
“There’s a better pace and a little more edge to him. Because he’s in better shape, he’s able to play a faster game.”
For the first 20 minutes, Vesey was just one of the Rangers going nowhere against an apparently much faster Sabres team that owned an earned 16-5 edge in shots. Henrik Lundqvist being at the top of his game had kind of something to do with the 0-0 score at the end of 20 minutes. Well, it had everything to do with it.
But then Vlad Namestnikov made a nifty play to set up Neal Pionk for a snap shot in the left circle that beat Carter Hutton at 0:41, 19 seconds before Vesey pinpointed one from the right circle. Lundqvist remained unbreakable, and the Rangers protected the lead.
“We’ve got a good feeling,” said Vesey, who has five goals in 14 games after recording 16 as a rookie and 17 as a sophomore. “We’ve had a good feeling since training camp.”
While Quinn has shifted his line combinations throughout the year, Vesey has been ensconced in a top-nine role while also playing the power play and chipping in on the penalty kill. He has the fifth-most five-on-five minutes among Rangers forwards, trailing only mainstays Mika Zibanejad, Mats Zuccarello, Jesper Fast and Kevin Hayes.
“The biggest thing I see is that he’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Brady Skjei said. “I’ve known him for a while and we’ve become close friends and he’s always had skill and talent, but now he’s playing more aggressively instead of being cautious.”
Quinn is overseeing a transformation in mindset. This isn’t quite Black-and-Blueshirt hockey, not yet, but the competitiveness of this group that seemed to be waning just 10 days ago after the loss in Chicago has resurfaced.
“I think my first eight games were good, but then I dipped a bit,” Vesey said. “But then my game came back in San Jose and Anaheim. Our line was kind of a checking line and we forechecked and grinded and battled. I think that’s a good template for me.”
It’s the template for all these Rangers, old and young, young and younger.
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