{"id":68086,"date":"2024-05-28T08:26:51","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T08:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/?p=68086"},"modified":"2024-05-28T08:26:51","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T08:26:51","slug":"r%d0%b0ngers-k%d0%b0%d0%b0%d1%80o-k%d0%b0kko-st%d1%96ll-stew%d1%96ng-over-g%d0%b0me-2-s%d1%81r%d0%b0t%d1%81%d2%bb-daquynh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/r%d0%b0ngers-k%d0%b0%d0%b0%d1%80o-k%d0%b0kko-st%d1%96ll-stew%d1%96ng-over-g%d0%b0me-2-s%d1%81r%d0%b0t%d1%81%d2%bb-daquynh\/","title":{"rendered":"R\u0430ngers\u2019 K\u0430\u0430\u0440o K\u0430kko st\u0456ll stew\u0456ng over G\u0430me 2 s\u0441r\u0430t\u0441\u04bb"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kaapo Kakko, for the moment, is back in the Rangers\u2019 lineup.<\/p>\n

But the winger was still less than thrilled Monday when his Game 2 healthy scratch came up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the players want to play,\u201d Kakko said. \u201cSo, not happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rangers<\/p>\n

Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko handles the puck during Game 3 on Sunday in Sunrise, Fla<\/em><\/p>\n

Kakko has yet to record a point in this Eastern Conference Final, though he played a role in Alex Wennberg\u2019s overtime winner in Game 3, and has just a goal and an assist in these playoffs as a whole.<\/p>\n

He readily admitted that he has not played his best game against the Panthers.<\/p>\n

But the Finn\u2019s second-ever healthy scratch in the playoffs, after Game 6 of the Conference Finals in Tampa two years ago, appeared to leave him stewing \u2014 even a few days after the fact.<\/p>\n

Kakko was \u201cnot really\u201d given a reason for being out of the lineup, and when asked about coach Peter Laviolette\u2019s communication with him, he pursed his lips, paused and let out a sigh.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of the game,\u201d Kakko said. \u201cSomebody\u2019s not playing. I think I can\u2019t say much about it. We just need to win six more games so I\u2019m not thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kaapo<\/p>\n

Kaapo Kakko, left, celebrates with Alex Wennberg after Wennberg scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 3 on Sunday in Sunrise, Fla<\/em><\/p>\n

If there was a bit of wondering already about Kakko\u2019s future with the Rangers, that is now a massive question hanging over the player, who will be a restricted free agent this summer.<\/p>\n

If there is not a top-six opportunity awaiting him in New York, and if these playoffs ultimately leave a poor taste in his mouth, it\u2019s easy to construct a scenario in which moving on ends up being the best course of action for both sides.<\/p>\n

Of course, the middle of the Eastern Conference Final is not the time for such questions.<\/p>\n

And for the time being, Kakko\u2019s bigger concern is getting himself going in time to impact the series.<\/p>\n

There is still ample time for the former second overall pick to change the narrative.<\/p>\n

After generally playing up ice, if not scoring the puck nearly enough, for much of the playoffs, the third line of himself, Wennberg and Jack Roslovic was caved for much of Game 3.<\/p>\n

It was noteworthy, too, that Florida looked to take advantage of last change by playing Aleksander Barkov\u2019s line against the trio when the opportunity arose.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust get the pucks in the O-Zone,\u201d Kakko said. \u201cI think the whole line, we need to do that more. I think that\u2019s all of us. \u2026 We just need to get there and maybe can be a little better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kaapo Kakko, for the moment, is back in the Rangers\u2019 lineup. But the winger was still less than thrilled Monday when his Game 2 healthy scratch came… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":68091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68086"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68090,"href":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68086\/revisions\/68090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingka.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}