DETROIT — Henrik Lundqvist was not about to parse his words.
The Rangers’ franchise goaltender did not dress for the second straight game in Saturday night’s 3-2 overtime win over the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena, citing his mysterious injury. Yet as the Blueshirts’ season-opening nine-game road trip came to an end, they now look forward to Monday, when they take on the Canadiens at the revamped Garden.
And though Lundqvist is being coy about the nature of his injury, there was no hesitation about his desire to play in the home-opener.
“I’m not going hide it, I definitely want to play Monday,” he said after Saturday’s morning skate, what he called his first full practice in a week. “I want to be there and play in front of our fans. That’s my goal, but at the same time, you have to be smart about it. It’s a long season. We’ll see how I react to this. It was a good skate for me.”
Lundqvist said the injury, which occurred in the second game of the season in Los Angeles, is slowly progressing. As tough as it is to sit out, the 31-year-old free-agent-to-be also is cognizant of not trying to push to hard and making matters worse.
“I hoped it to be good two weeks ago,” he said. “Every day it’s improving. You just hope it’s moving faster.”
The hope now for Lundqvist is the Rangers can use the return to New York as a turning point in what has been an poor start to a season with high expectation.
“I think we all feel frustration right now, and not being able to be out there and help out just adds to it,” Lundqvist said. “We just have to turn everything into a positive thinking here. It’s been a long road trip for us. Come back home and play at the Garden on Monday is going to bring some life back to the group here.”
Coach Alain Vigneault was adamant about needing better play from his four centers, and singled out Derek Stepan and Derick Brassard specifically.
“I’m hoping that both Step and Brass, especially those two, they’re supposed to be our offensive players, our offensive skill,” Vigneault said. “They need to start showing some of that.”
Brassard had a wide-open breakaway midway through the second period, but was denied by goalie Jimmy Howard. He then had another breakaway in overtime, and scored the game-winner.
Vigneault continued to have no update on the status of Rick Nash, who is presumably still dealing with the aftereffects of a concussion sustained on a hit by the Sharks’ Brad Stuart on Oct. 8. Saturday was the sixth straight game he missed.
“I haven’t asked about him in four or five days,” Vigneault said of Nash, who is the team’s best offensive player and carries a $7.8 million cap hit through the 2017-18 season. “He isn’t around, so I’m worried about that guys that are here.”
Mats Zuccarello reentered the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Thursday in Philadelphia, and scored the goal that tied the game 2-2. Brandon Mashinter was scratched.