Noah Laba makes a positive return to practice with the Rangers following an injury concern.

Rangers Preparing for Upcoming Game

Noah Laba raced into the corner, eagerly going after the puck along the boards.

It seems likely that the rookie might soon don the red non-contact jersey.

Rava, ejected during the second period of Saturday’s match against Pittsburgh, has been dealing with what could be a serious upper-body injury. Coach Mike Sullivan indicated on Monday that he is “day-to-day,” yet returning to practice hints he’s on track for Thursday’s home game against the Hurricanes.

“He came in today ready for nearly full contact,” Sullivan noted.

Earlier this month, Rava missed three games due to an upper-body injury. On Saturday, he took a hard hit into the boards and attempted to slide out for a television timeout, which led to him leaving the game due to shoulder issues.

While the injury seemed unnoticeable on Monday, it provided an unexpected pause for a team concentrating on nurturing its younger players. Rava has shown promising skills during his debut season, starting training camp as a 13-line center and outperforming 13-line center Parsinen.

The former fourth-round draft pick has netted six goals and ten assists across 53 games this season, recently scoring three points in six outings.

Team’s Current Struggles

The Rangers have been in dire need of a breather, to say the least.

As of Monday, they have played more games than any other team (22-28-6) and have faced the most losses in the Eastern Conference. They’ve struggled with a record of 3-12-2 since Christmas, and currently, they are on a three-game losing streak.

Fortunately, after a day off on Sunday, this week’s longest gap between games could be a blessing. It gives the Rangers three days to practice ahead of their last game before the Olympic break.

“This year has been challenging due to the packed schedule,” Sullivan remarked. “We just went through a phase with four games in six nights, and that seems to be a recurring theme. We’ve devised a plan for the next three days, which we anticipated ahead of time…Today was about starting some skill-focused drills. We’ll ramp up tomorrow, aiming to get some solid practice in skill development for specific players. Rest and recovery are also priorities for key players who we rely on heavily.”