Peter Laviolette’s shake-up proved exactly what Rangers needed.

That’s not to say the Rangers have gone moldy, though they’ve played a 7-2-1 through their first 10 games, even if they’ve relied too heavily on their elite goaltending tandem of Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick.

But even as victories were described as if carried by muscle memory, the dynamics seemed outdated. The top six forward combinations that existed for most of Peter Laviolette’s time on the bench have stagnated.

This is one of the consequences of resuming play with a core that has largely existed for six seasons.

So coach shook it for a Sunday afternoon game at the Garden against the depleted, talent-wasted Islanders and Blueshirts. moved on to a clean sheet win with a score of 5-2 It’s not exactly applause-worthy, but it’s significantly better than the club’s style of hockey over the last couple of weeks.

The new combinations that caught everyone’s attention were Mika Zibanejad – not Vincent Trocheck – centering Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere, and in which Chris Kreider skated with Filip Chytil – not Zibanejad – and Kaapo Kakko, and Trocheck skated with Will Kyle and Reilly Smith. attracted everyone’s attention. .

There was better detail and much more aggressive puck pursuit. There were fewer revolutions. There was a concentrated slot drive into the network. The changes in forward combinations were accompanied by a return to the defensive tandems of Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba that had been in place for the past four seasons.

The Rangers didn’t give up the middle of the ice or the defensive line easily. There were fewer opposing shots to contend with, even if Shesterkin had to make one breakaway save from Bo Horvat before another magical two-on stoppage on Horvat.

“I thought it was a lot better,” Laviolette said. “The goalkeepers on both teams will have to make big saves and that happens every night and yes, he was good, but not as good as in three of the last four games where it seemed like it was a one-sided game.

“I felt like we were hitting and getting hit, and from time to time we would get hit too. But overall I think it was a much better game both defensively and offensively.”

Since Laviolette took over last season, Zibanejad and Kreider have played every game as a complete set of tools: 91 straight regular-season games (the Swedish center missed one game last season) and 16 in the playoffs.

In 2016-17, when Zibanejad arrived from Ottawa in exchange for Derrick Brassard, he and Kreider combined for 4,749:36 at five-on-five last season. They scored 234 goals for Rangers and 182 goals against them, a percentage of 56.25 percent. Over the previous two seasons, they played 163 for and 119 against, or 57.8 percent.

But this season they scored three goals for and five against in a 100-13 score, and neither played particularly well. So Laviolette shook it up. He didn’t throw numbers into a hat before choosing them, but put the top nine in a blender, from which a message emerged, even if it was a subliminal one.

The message, as I understand it, is that the same old thing gets old.

“These messages are delivered (regardless) of whether the lines have changed,” Laviolette said, stifling a chuckle. “They will be there the next day after the games. It’s a pretty fair locker room.

“I really think when you come in and shake it up, you go one way. I’ve been pretty consistent over 90 games. Now you come and confuse, but there were meetings where it was reported that we don’t want to play like that.

“I think it’s a combination,” the coach said. “Yes, there was a shake-up. Yes, we’ve looked at some things.”

Zibanejad had three assists: one on Kreider’s shorthanded goal after a two-on-one rush that was simply beautiful, one on Panarin’s power-play goal and the third on an empty net for No. 10. Zibanejad was intense, working with his new teammates both with and without the puck, but he also started Friday’s game against Ottawa after a particularly poor performance in D.C. on Tuesday.

“Maybe, but at the same time I can look at our 7-2-1 record and think we can play better. I’d say it’s a good problem to have,” No. 93 said when asked if the coach had sent a message in a bottle with the lineup changes.

“And we do that, go out and play one of the best games of the season, it shows what kind of team we have.”

The team is 8-2-1 and could be better.