Practice Report: Rangers Turning the Page; Update on Zibanejad

Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault said Monday's disappointing performance against the Dallas Stars in the team's 2-1 shootout loss could be attributed to just a blip in what has otherwise been a strong stretch of hockey for his team.
"Our body of work lately, I think for this last little stretch of a little over a month, we've been pretty close to one of the top two teams as far as winning percentage in the NHL," Vigneault said. "In that big body of work, we've had some real good moments. We've had some other games where a period may have been more challenging."
Vigneault said over the course of an 82-game season, teams will have nights like Monday against the Stars, but also stated his team will "look at a couple little points" from that game and use it as a learning experience before the puck drops in Ottawa Wednesday.

After shuffling nearly all his lines and defensive pairs for the third period of Monday's game, Vigneault returned to the combinations he had at the start of the game for Tuesday's practice, and said those will be the units he starts Wednesday's game with.
Forward J.T. Miller said he and his teammates learned quickly that performances like Monday won't cut it for New York if they hope to have any success and climb the ladder in the competitive Metropolitan Division standings.
"I think we know the right way to play," Miller said. "We know we have better than that. We've moved on. It's a new day. You don't have time to sit around and think about that last one. We're going to be ready to go from the start tomorrow."
Mika Zibanejad took part in practice Tuesday but it was as a defenseman, as he was paired with Steven Kampfer as he continues to work his way back into the lineup while recovering from a concussion he suffered late last month.
Zibanejad did get some reps on the team's top power play unit, but rotated with David Desharnais.
While Zibanejad did not travel with the team to Ottawa, Vigneault said his No. 1 center was continuing to move in the right direction.
"He's coming along real well," Vigneault said of Zibanejad. "Today he had a full practice on D. I thought he looked real sharp so I'm looking forward to trying him in the middle."
Vigneault called it a "possibility" Zibanejad could practice at center at Thursday's practice. "He might get a couple laps in the middle there."
Rangers lines from practice
Chris Kreider - David Desharnais - Pavel Buchnevich
Rick Nash - Kevin Hayes - Jesper Fast
Michael Grabner - J.T. Miller - Mats Zuccarello
Paul Carey - Boo Nieves - Jimmy Vesey
Ryan McDonagh - Nick Holden
Brady Skjei - Kevin Shattenkirk
Marc Staal - Brendan Smith