Nobody inside the Rangers is saying it was a coincidence, so don’t take it as one.
It has now been two games with Martin St. Louis out of the center position and back to his natural spot on the right wing — and the to-be Hall of Famer has happened to score three goals, more than doubling his output (two) in his previous 29 regular-season games as a Ranger.
With a potent injury to top-pivot Derek Stepan, St. Louis was in the middle out of necessity. Yet it seems coach Alain Vigneault has come to realize that even more necessary than having someone fill the void is having a player like St. Louis comfortable, and able to produce.
“There is no doubt that he’s much more comfortable on the wing, especially on the right side, then he is in the middle,” Vigneault said before Wednesday night’s 4-3 overtime win over the Red Wings, when St. Louis scored a pivotal breakaway goal that made it 2-0 early in the second.
“I think Marty understood the situation we were in as far as personnel,” Vigneault said. “He’s an experienced guy that wanted to help the team out. We put him there, but he’s better for our team on the wing.”
St. Louis has not exactly overwhelmed in his time on Broadway, even after the emotional run to the Stanley Cup finals last season in the wake of his mother’s sudden death. He had spent the previous 13 years in Tampa before coming to the Rangers at the March 5 trade deadline, and has admitted that it took him some time to adapt to his surroundings, often trying to do too much.
But St. Louis has settled into a leadership role, and with that comes the responsibility to put up the points that have placed him on this career pedestal.
“It’s always a plus confidence-wise when you score goals,” St. Louis said. “There’s no doubt about it. But you have to keep pushing.”
It also didn’t hurt that St. Louis was put on a line with Rick Nash — the newly engaged Nash, who had another goal to make it 10 through 12 games, just one off the league lead of Corey Perry. Along with the play-making Derick Brassard in the middle, the combination has allowed St. Louis to go back to his natural position, where he has never denied that he feels the most comfortable.
“Obviously, I’ve been a winger my whole career. So is it more comfortable? Of course it is,” he said. “Playing wing allows me to play the game I know. Playing center you have to change your mindset a little bit. Risk management is you have to be more careful because you don’t want to give up 3-on-2, or be the last guy out of the zone. It’s just different things.
“But you adapt. It doesn’t change the way I approach the game, it’s just a different position and you have to understand the position you’re in.”
It does look like Stepan should return for the next game, Saturday up in Toronto, and that will throw a wrench into the line combination. But Vigneault assuredly will keep St. Louis in a position where he feels most at home, and the Rangers hope his resurgence could create a tidal wave of confidence.
“There is not one athlete out there that is going to say confidence doesn’t play a big part in their performance,” St. Louis said. “You have to manage that as an athlete. For me, it’s been like that my whole career. You try to ride the wave. When you’re hot and you feel great, you ride it. I feel like, when you do that, it’s contagious and you try to bring people along with you.”