RALEIGH, N.C. — The meritocracy finally got to Brady Skjei.
The Rangers’ 25-year-old defenseman was a healthy scratch for the first time this season as his team took a 4-2 win over the Hurricanes on Thursday night.
Much like the rest of the team, Skjei has had ups and downs through the first portion of this season. But after a difficult individual performance in the 5-1 win over the Red Wings on Wednesday night at the Garden, coach David Quinn decided to sit him.
“I just think he needs to play better,” Quinn said.
Skjei had been a healthy scratch four times last season, as he is still trying to find the consistent form that was so promising in his rookie year of 2016-17. The club did show confidence when it signed him to a six-year, $31.5 million deal in the summer of 2018, carrying a $5.25 million annual salary-cap hit.
Coming in for Skjei was Ryan Lindgren, the 21-year-old who was scratched Wednesday when Marc Staal came back into the lineup. Lindgren paired with Adam Fox, while Staal went with Tony DeAngelo and Libor Hajek stayed with Jacob Trouba.
Lias Andersson also returned to the lineup after he had been a healthy scratch Wednesday for the first time this season. Quinn had said the 20-year-old center suffered a dip in his game during Monday’s 6-2 loss to the Senators, and it could have done him some good to watch a game.
Andersson was back as the fourth-line pivot, between Brendan Smith and Greg McKegg. He got 9:57 of ice time and had a Sebastian Aho shot bounce off his stick and into his own net to cut the Rangers lead to 3-2 late in the third period.
Gritty winger Micheal Haley was the scratch up-front.
“Hales has done a good job,” Quinn said. “This [Hurricanes] team is fast, so I really wanted to get some speed in the lineup tonight up front.”