Maybe it wasn’t just that Alain Vigneault had it in for Pavel Buchnevich.

All signs were pointing to Buchnevich, the Rangers’ talented Russian winger, being a healthy scratch for Tuesday night’s Garden match against the Avalanche. Vigneault, the former Rangers’ coach, often thought he could get more out of Buchnevich and often marginalized his ice time and opportunity. But now it seems first-year headman David Quinn is already in the same boat just five games into the season, having sat Buchnevich for the final 8:35 of the third period in his team’s 2-1 loss to the Oilers on Saturday afternoon, dropping the Blueshirts to 1-4-0 on the season.

“Just like everybody, we’re looking for consistent effort,” Quinn said after Monday’s practice when asked directly about Buchnevich. “That’s what we’re looking for from every player.

“To me, you let good players play. You allow certain mistakes to happen, because guys that make plays are going to make turnovers, for sure. There are acceptable turnovers in this game, believe it or not. What isn’t acceptable is lack of consistent effort, and that’s what we’re looking for from everybody.”

When asked if Buchnevich will sit, Quinn said that decision will be made Tuesday morning. But with the 23-year-old spending practice occasionally rotating in behind Cody McLeod on fourth-line wing — and with Buchnevich not being on either power-play unit — it seems like his first scratch of the season is inevitable.

“We put a lot of stock into practice, and every day we sit and talk and evaluate guys and judge them by their practice,” Quinn said. “The lineup has changed from time to time based on a practice. So that could happen.”

Reluctantly, Quinn admitted that defenseman Neal Pionk is more than likely to return to the lineup on Tuesday night after he had been scratched for the previous two.

“I would hesitate to keep him out for three straight,” a smiling Quinn said. “I’ll tip my hand there.”

After scratching the 23-year-old right-handed shot for Saturday’s game, Quinn said Pionk “is going to play a lot of hockey for us.”

It’s unclear who the defenseman coming out might be, but Tony DeAngelo seemed to skate as an extra Monday following his two-game stint as a scratch. The other right-side defensemen are Brendan Smith, Kevin Shattenkirk and Adam McQuaid. It’s possible Smith could switch to the left, where the team has been playing Brady Skjei, Marc Staal, and for the past two games, Fredrik Claesson.

Quinn said it’s possible that one goalie — more than likely being Henrik Lundqvist — could play both games of this week’s back-to-back, which concludes Wednesday night in Washington against the Capitals. After that, the team doesn’t have another game until Sunday night at home against the Flames.

Much to everyone’s delight, the team’s yellow lab puppy, Ranger, attended practice. He is in training to be a service dog for a child with autism.