OTTAWA — Chris Drury isn’t going anywhere — for now.
In his first year as the Rangers’ assistant general manager after one year as the director of player development, Drury seemingly has become a very valuable part of their front office under President Glen Sather and GM Jeff Gorton. So much so that when the Sabres recently asked for the Rangers’ permission to interview Drury for their open GM job, the request was denied.
Drury, 40, was a former captain for both the Sabres and Rangers during his 12-year playing career. He retired after the 2010-11 season on Broadway, and was welcomed back into the organization before the 2015-16 season.
He has helped usher onto the roster a new wave of young players, who prepared for Game 2 of their second-round series against the Senators on Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre, having lost Game 1, 2-1, on Thursday night.
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The Sabres fired both their GM Tim Murray and their coach Dan Bylsma after a tumultuous season that ended with another miss of the playoffs and a somewhat disgruntled star player in Jack Eichel.
Drury is originally from Trumbull, Conn., and played four years at Boston University.
Both the Rangers and Senators went 1-for-4 on the power play in Game 1, but the Blueshirts were adamant they lost on both their power play and penalty kill.
“In my mind, they won the speciality team battles,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “They got some grade-A looks on their power play, and they got a couple of chances on ours, so that’s definitely an area we’re addressing with our group here and we need to be better.”
Forward Derek Stepan — who said, “I’ve stunk since the playoffs started.” — reiterated a need to not allow the opposition so many chances on the man-advantage.
“The big thing is playing disciplined,” Stepan said. “I think they gained a lot of momentum off their power plays, and their power play was good. So when we’re going to take more penalties in this series, our PK needs to be sharper.”
The Rangers practiced with the same forward lines and defensive pairs, signaling no lineup changes were imminent. But Vigneault hardly closed the door on the possibility.
“No doubt that, depending on how you feel and how certain guys have put out, as a coach, you’re always looking to put your best lineup on the table,” he said. “And that’s definitely what we’re going to try to do.”
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When goalie Henrik Lundqvist was asked on Friday about his fellow Swede and Senators captain Erik Karlsson having said that he tried to be a goaltender when he was younger, Lundqvist scoffed.
“I’m focused on playing [Game 2], so whatever he’s been doing when he was a kid, I don’t really care right now,” Lundqvist said. “Yeah, we’re friends — [in the] summertime. Right now, I’m worried and concerned and focused on my game.”
Karlsson scored the game-winning goal in Game 1 when his shot from below the goal line banked in off Lundqvist’s back with 4:11 remaining in regulation.