Following Sunday’s bad home defeat to Edmonton, coach Alain Vigneault hinted at changes. Two of them came today. The Rangers recalled forward Jesper Fast and reassigned Ryan Malone and Conor Allen. Malone has been the odd man out of Vigneault’s rotation. As for Allen, he goes back to Hartford with John Moore returning tomorrow against Pittsburgh.

Fast returns and hopefully gets a real chance. In 11 games with the Wolf Pack, he tallied a goal and eight assists. In the Rangers’ first three contests, he had no points and averaged over 12 minutes. He can play penalty kill. I wonder if Vigneault will give him an opportunity and sit Christmas ornament Tanner Glass. Glass is a role player who adds physicality, kills penalties and nothing else. I doubt he comes out with his former team visiting Broadway.

After serving a five-game suspension for a dirty hit, Moore is back in tomorrow. That should aid the third pair. For now, he’ll slide in with Michael Kostka, whose days are numbered with the impending return of Dan Boyle. Following the Pens, Colorado visits Thursday and then the Blueshirts travel to Pittsburgh Saturday. Figure Boyle plays by the weekend.

The forward combinations I’d like to see would look like this.

Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Marty St Louis

Rick Nash-Derick Brassard-Mats Zuccarello

Carl Hagelin-Kevin Hayes-Anthony Duclair

Jesper Fast-Dominic Moore-Lee Stempniak

That lineup would have balance. It hinges on Hayes and Duclair, who Vigneault moved up to the third line last night. Following a change, Hayes dished for Hagelin who scored his fourth. Hayes had arguably his best game pacing the team in shots (5) while delivering 3 hits and showing improvement in the faceoff circle going 8-and-10. Duclair received over 12 minutes and had two shots. He also got a power play shift (47 seconds). To Vigneault’s credit, he’s continued to use Duclair on the man-advantage. Now, he should have a bigger role.

It should be pointed out how poorly the Rangers were over the weekend. Lackadaisical mistakes and poor coverage won’t cut it against the Pens. Try that tomorrow and they’ll get their doors blown off. The attitude of the team following a locker room meeting was one of disappointment. Marc Staal referred to the Edmonton loss as wake up call. Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t buying it referencing the Wild comeback from 3-0 down after two periods. He’s right. It’s about time they show some urgency. We’ll see how they respond tomorrow.