At the start of New York Rangers training camp, Mike Sullivan explained that he likes to create early chemistry with pairs of players, if not complete three-man line combinations.
We’ve seen J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad together since start of camp. And Artemi Panarin was with Vincent Trocheck until the star winger landed on the injury list with a lower-body issue. On defense, Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov paired up right from the get-go.
So, you had to think there was some purpose to the defense pairs and forward line combinations that Sullivan deployed Sunday in a 5-3 preseason win against the New Jersey Devils.