John Tortorella Talks Healthy Scratches Gilroy and Lisin

At times this season, forward Enver Lisin and defenseman Matt Gilroy have been pleasant surprises, but they’ve also been equally as frustrating at other times. Lately, both have been seeing a lot of action from the bench though.

Here is head coach John Tortorella to talk about why:

On Lisin

“He’s a guy who can skate with skill, but we’d like him to fit in the game a little bit better. Right now, we’re going to give [Corey Locke] a chance to produce some offense. I’m not sure how much time he’ll get, we’ll see how it goes. With Lis, I just don’t want us getting hurt by a lapse defensively and that’s still a work in progress with him.”

On Gilroy

“With defending, he’s working at it. He’s trying. But, again, he’s in the middle of a process here. I think [Anders] Eriksson, though he didn’t play a lot of minutes [7:44 against the Islanders], will play more tomorrow night. He gives us more of veteran leadership and makes a lot of little plays with the puck.

"It’s the toughest position to play and it’s just the way it’s worked right now. It’s crunch time and we think he still needs some work underneath the hashmarks as far as engaging and taking people off pucks and stopping cycles. He’s going to sit and watch."

Thoughts

From those two quotes, I think it’s safe to say that Tortorella is in no rush to bring either of them back. Although that could change if we see some poor play, particularly on the defensive end, from the guys who have replaced them. If at any point the Rangers are eliminated from the playoffs, Gilroy could very well get back in to the lineup—maybe Lisin, too.

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