Ryan Reaves ‘looking for heads’ when Rangers face Knights

New York Rangers manager Gerard Gallant said Friday’s crippled against the Golden Knights is conscionable different 2 points.

But Rangers winger Ryan Reaves isn’t fooled.

“I’m definite helium wants to triumph conscionable arsenic overmuch arsenic me, possibly a small spot more,” Reaves said. “I’m definite this one’s important for him. … I’m definite it would beryllium bully to instrumentality it to them for him, for sure.”

Gallant and Reaves look their erstwhile nine for the archetypal clip erstwhile the Rangers (19-7-3, 41 points) big the surging Knights astatine Madison Square Garden.

While Reaves stated the obvious, Gallant downplayed the matchup against the squad that fired him astir 2 years agone aft starring the enlargement nine to the Stanley Cup Final successful its inaugural season.

“If I was a young manager maybe, but now, being astir for a while, you get your squad prepared to play the aforesaid mode you get them prepared to play each night,” Gallant said. “Sure, I cognize a batch of the players connected the different broadside and absorption and the unit and each that. But it doesn’t alteration thing for us.”

Gallant was 118-75-20, winning a Pacific Division title and the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s manager of the year. But with the squad mired successful a midseason slump, he was fired Jan. 15, 2020, and replaced by erstwhile San Jose manager Pete DeBoer.

The erstwhile spring, during a contentious Western Conference quarterfinal series, Gallant called DeBoer a “clown” during a quality league anterior to Game 7. This volition beryllium the 4th gathering betwixt the coaches since that incident.

Gallant is successful his archetypal play with New York and has the Rangers tied successful points with first-place Carolina and Washington successful the Metropolitan Division.

“I’m going to spell retired and bash what we bash arsenic coaches,” Gallant said. “Obviously this is 1 squad I’ve ne'er coached against, truthful that’ll marque it absorbing for sure. But we’re going to spell retired and bash our job, bash what we bash and manager the game. I’m not going to bash thing different.”

Reaves was a instrumentality favourite during his three-plus seasons with the Knights and scored the series-clinching extremity of the 2018 Western Conference Final against Winnipeg. But the rugged winger saw his playing clip diminish past play and was traded successful July for a 2022 third-round pick.

“I deliberation we each know, these ones are ever important,” Reaves said. “It doesn’t substance if it’s the manager oregon an ex-player. You ever privation to get a triumph for the guy. It’s ne'er amusive facing your aged squad and losing.

“A batch of bully memories. Made a batch of bully friends. Great assemblage there. Nothing antagonistic to accidental astir that organization, for sure. But you don’t privation them to get the champion of you. I’ll beryllium looking for heads.”

Contact David Schoen astatine dschoen@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ connected Twitter.