You know, when Mike Bossy was on his way to establishing the NHL scoring record for rookies with 53 in 1976-77, Al Arbour would routinely pull No. 22 for defensive zone faceoffs. The earth did not spin off its axis.
And neither will it now in the wake of Kaapo Kakko’s demotion to the fourth line by David Quinn during the Rangers’ 5-2 defeat to Nashville on Monday at the Garden in which the Predators recorded a pair of empty-netters.
Because sometimes less is more. Because sometimes even second-overall draft selections need to take a back seat after going 14 straight games without scoring a goal.