GLENDALE, Ariz. — A setback already has happened once, so Rick Nash is doing what he can not to let it happen again.
The Rangers’ star winger missed his fourth straight game with a nagging groin injury when his team beat the Coyotes, 6-3, on Thursday night at Gila River Arena. Yet if there was any hope Nash would play on Saturday in Denver for the team’s New Year’s Eve contest against the Avalanche, he squashed that idea.
After a light twirl on the ice Thursday morning, Nash said he wasn’t planning on practicing with the team in Arizona on Friday afternoon — before practice was cancelled — adding he was “a while away from that.” Instead, Nash will try to find some time to do some hard stopping and starting by himself, and he hopes to rejoin the group by next week.
Nash is hesitant because the injury which initially occurred on the soft ice at Barclays Center on Dec. 6 never fully healed. He played three games from Dec. 15 through Dec. 18 at what he called “80 percent,” and the tight schedule of three games in four nights likely led to him aggravating the other side of the groin.
“I felt pain in playing those games, every stride I was able to feel it,” Nash said. “This time, we’re going to err on the side of caution and not play at 80 percent.”
With the team’s five-day bye week starting on Jan. 8, coach Alain Vigneault was still not looking for any more time than is needed for Nash.
“As soon as he’s tells me he’s good to go,” Vigneault said, “he’s going to play.”
Starting goalie Henrik Lundqvist continued to work his way back from a stomach illness that hit him the day after Christmas.
He backed up Antti Raanta after being forced to miss the first game after the three-day break, a 4-3 win over the Senators at the Garden on Tuesday. He was hopeful to be ready to play Saturday in Denver.
“If he’s healthy,” Vigneault said, “he’s going to play.”
On Dec. 26, Lundqvist worked out at the gym and was preparing to play against the Senators when he felt the onset of a sickness. He didn’t eat for over 24 hours, and he “lost a lot of energy.” He was able to practice Wednesday before the team left for Arizona, but he said practice “was pretty tough,” and Thursday morning “was definitely better.”
“I think if I go to the office, I think I can manage,” he said, “but out there trying to stop the puck, it’s harder.”
Forward Mika Zibanejad skated in a track suit for the second straight day as he continues to recover from his broken fibula, suffered on Nov. 20. He is still weeks away from being able to practice with the team.
Defenseman Adam Clendening was set to be the only “healthy” scratch, having played a solid 18:40 against the Wild on Dec. 23 when Vigneault decided to bench rookie Brady Skjei. Clendening has now played in just four games since Oct. 22, getting into nine total in the first 38.