Ryan Lindgren suffered an undisclosed upper-body injury the night before against the Golden Knights at the Garden and missed the final game before the All-Star break, a road win over the Senators.
In summary, the Rangers certainly needed a week off to reset after getting off to a strong start, posting a 12-12-2 record in 26 games.
But no player has needed a reset more than Lindgren. Manager Peter Laviolette expects his top defensive unit to return to play Monday night at MSG against the Central Division-leading Avalanche, saying they will be “ready to go.”
After the Rangers reconvened for practice in Tarrytown on Sunday, Lindgren said, “I feel like the time off here has given me a few days to recover and rest. I feel good right now.” ” he said. “I couldn’t get out of there. [last Saturday at Ottawa], I would have played it if I could. I couldn’t do that.
“I had a week off, so I don’t know when I was playing, but I was able to play at a good time.”
After opening the season with an 18-4-1 record, the Blueshirts went scoreless for six straight weeks before losing 5-2 to Las Vegas on January 22nd. At the time, Laviolette separated the top defensive pairing of Lindgren and Adam Fox.
Lindgren was replaced in a duo with Braden Schneider, but left in the first period with an injury and did not return.
Lindgren and Fox, who were vacationing at home in Minnesota, reunited for Sunday’s practice.
Captain Jacob Trouba will serve the last of his two-game suspension Monday night against Colorado (32-14-3) for elbowing Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev.
“He’s ready to go. I think it’s a good spot,” Laviolette said of Lindgren. “I think it’s a great place for someone who’s going through something troublesome to get away from. But we knew it wasn’t going to be long-term, so I didn’t want him to come back to the scene.” it’s a good thing.”
The same goes for the rest of the first-place team, with Laviolette appearing to be invigorated during a 60-minute afternoon practice after being joined by All-Star representatives Igor Shesterkin and Vincent Trocheck. thought Laviolette.
Laviolette also coached at this weekend’s NHL showcase event in Toronto.
“Well, it’s 1-0. We won the last game, so we’re 1-0 and feeling great right now,” Laviolette joked about last weekend’s 7-2 win over the Senators. “Whether we like it or not, there are goodbyes. Vacations, new years, the start of the season, the start of the playoffs, these holidays have an opportunity to reset.
“And I feel like this is one of those times when your team comes back. It was a really good practice.” [Sunday], you can see there was a lot of energy there. The players practiced well. And I think it just goes away for a little while and comes back and is recharged and ready to go. But so will our opponents, so we have to get off to a good start and try to build some success here in February. ”
With just two months (33 games) remaining in the regular season, the Rangers’ lead in the Metropolitan Division has narrowed to two points over the Hurricanes, who have one game left.
“Obviously during January we weren’t able to reach the level we wanted,” said Lindgren, 25. “We finished well against Ottawa, but it was a good week for us to reset and get back on track here in February and get back to the type of hockey we know we can play.”
