Laviolette not worried about job, says Rangers 'need to play better'

NASHVILLE -- Peter Laviolette wants to keep the focus on the New York Rangers trying to win rather than his job status.

The Rangers (15-14-1) enter their game against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena (8 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, MSG) having lost four of their past five (1-4-0) and 10 of their past 13 (3-10-0).

“Those are things that I can’t control,” Laviolette said about his job security. “I’ve been in this a long time. There are always those conversations wherever you go, especially if you’ve been in it for a long time. My real concern, main concern, is getting a win tonight, getting back on track, getting back into the playoff race.”

Laviolette, in his second season as Rangers coach, is seventh all-time among NHL coaches with 822 wins and is third among active coaches behind Paul Maurice (888) of the Florida Panthers and Lindy Ruff (875) of the Buffalo Sabres.

After he led the Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy and the Eastern Conference Final last season, they have struggled with essentially the same roster.

New York traded captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6 but has gone 2-4-0 since. On Sunday, Laviolette made 23-year-old forward Kaapo Kakko a healthy scratch for a 3-2 loss at the St. Louis Blues. On Tuesday, Kakko said he was surprised by the benching and questioned why he was being singled out.

“I’ll probably keep those messages with [Kakko] between him and I,” Laviolette said. “I think it’s OK to be frustrated. It’s OK to be upset. Like, everybody wants to play, and I get that 100 percent. So, I understand that.”

Kakko, who has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 29 games, will return to the lineup against the Predators.

As for the lineup decisions he makes and whether it’s easier to scratch younger players as opposed to veterans, Laviolette believes everyone on the team needs to play better for the Rangers to turn the season around and get back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“I mean, there’s been older players that have sat out as well,” Laviolette said. “The decisions that I make, they’re tough decisions. [Kakko], our team, we need to play better. I think we’re 3-10 in our last 13 games, and so that’s not good enough. We need to play a better brand of hockey. All of us.”

Forward Mika Zibanejad played a season-low 13:04 and forward Chris Kreider played on the fourth line during the loss at St. Louis on Sunday.

“We need to play better,” Laviolette said. “We’re not playing well enough. We’re not doing the things that we need to do in order to be successful. I do think that it was better the last game in St. Louis compared to the game before (5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday), but still not good enough, so there’s got to be more from our team in general.

“From the players you mentioned, from myself, from everybody. We’re either going to accept where we’re at, or we’re going to fight like hell to make a difference and move out of this. That’s the only way that we’re going to get there. There’s got to be more fight to what we’re doing.”

Forward Artemi Panarin will miss his second straight game because of an upper-body injury. Panarin leads the Rangers with 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists) in 29 games. He participated in the morning skate Tuesday.