VANCOUVER — First-year Rangers coach David Quinn has certainly had his frustrations with Pavel Buchnevich, the young Russian winger whom Quinn has banished to the press box four times this season as a healthy scratch.
But since the last time he was left out of the lineup, Jan. 29 against Minnesota, Buchnevich has seemed to turn things around. Entering Wednesday’s game against the Canucks, he had played in 20 straight games, his longest continuous stay in the lineup this season, and he had put up six goals and seven assists in that span. Best of all, he seems to have gained favor with Quinn, who praised him last week after he scored both of the Rangers’ goals in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Red Wings in Detroit.