WASHINGTON _ Early in the week, when the Rangers were still in the midst of their one-game-in-11-days stretch, coach David Quinn had said he didn't want to be hasty in making too many changes within his lineup, given the fact the Rangers had only played three games and didn't have much of a sample size on which to base any judgments.
But after two losses in a row, Quinn just couldn't help himself. The second-year coach jumbled his forward lines for Friday's game against the Washington Capitals, moving struggling Chris Kreider up from the second line to the top line, putting him on the right wing with Artemi Panarin and Kreider's longtime centerman, Mika Zibanejad. Pavel Buchnevich, who had been the first line right wing for the first four games of the season, dropped down to Kreider's spot on the left of the second line, with center Brett Howden and rookie right wing Kaapo Kakko, and Quinn tinkered with the third and fourth lines, too, and changed up a couple of defense pairs as well.
The changes weren't enough to halt the losing streak, though. T.J. Oshie had two goals and John Carlson had three assists as the Capitals closed out a homestand with a 5-2 victory that dropped the Rangers' record to 2-3. Kreider had an assist on a goal by Panarin and Buchnevich had a power play goal, but it wasn't enough as the Rangers dropped both ends of a back-to-back against the Devils and Capitals. They return to action Sunday afternoon against the Vancouver Canucks at the Garden.
