Victor Mancini ‘excited’ for Rangers chance after ‘crazy’ journey

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Rangers’ recall of Victor Mancini on Friday was in response to Zac Jones’ upper-body injury.

Given Jones’ day-to-day status, after his eighth straight game, Mancini was included in the Rangers lineup against the Oilers on Saturday night at Rogers Place.

Mancini, 21, was about to put on his skates for practice in Hartford when he heard the call from the Blueshirts.

He checked out of his hotel, went to the airport, and after a few delays, headed for Edmonton.

Mancini didn’t check into his hotel until 3:30 in the morning

“It will be difficult. It was a crazy experience getting on the plane and coming all the way here,” the Rangers rookie said after the morning skate. “Make sure you get some rest between now and the match. Frankly, they have a very good team, they have very talented forwards. This will be a really tough fight but I’m excited for this fight. I think it’ll be good to see where I’m measuring.

The truth that Rangers have Mancini heads across the country Playing against Edmonton instead of just using Chad Ruhwedel reveals that the organization views the young blueliner as a true seventh defenseman.

Mancini, who played in nine of Rangers’ first 10 games of the season, was suspended for four consecutive games before being sent off.

The Rangers wanted him to play rather than sit in the press box.

“He was here, he didn’t do anything to lose that spot, we just didn’t want him to sit here and play games,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “He came back to play to keep him going and improving. Now he’s back. Rudy is a good defender for us, he played well. But the way he came out of camp, we were going with Vic at the time and I was open and honest and said if I could play seven I would but we couldn’t.

“We didn’t want him to sit here doing nothing, so we sent him down to play until we needed him again.”

Filip Chytil skied with Ruhwedel after the team completed its morning skate.

Although he joined the Rangers in Calgary after being cleared of concussion by specialists in New York, the Czech center did not dress for the fourth straight game.

Jonathan Quick made his fifth start of the season, making his debut Saturday night against the Oilers.

Having achieved a winning streak of 128:05, Quick aimed to secure the 398th win of his career.