Neal Pionk appears ready to return to the lineup after missing three straight and four of the past five games with an unidentified lower-body injury while Ryan Lindgren remains with AHL Hartford despite an impressive three-game cameo in No. 44’s absence prior to the break.
So what might that mean when the Blueshirts get back at it Tuesday night at the Garden against the Flyers?
Righty Kevin Shattenkirk playing the left side.
“It’s the old, ‘whoever is most comfortable there,’ ” said David Quinn, who indicated Pionk would play if deemed ready to go by the training staff. “I haven’t checked with the trainers on Neal [following practice] but he said he felt good and he looked good.”
Tony DeAngelo is likely the right-handed defenseman most comfortable playing the left, having played his off-side through junior as well as in a couple of games this month for the Rangers. But if Quinn shifts DeAngelo to the left, he would break up the recently constructed Marc Staal-DeAngelo first tandem that has played well through five games.
If Shattenkirk moves to the left and pairs with Pionk, Quinn can maintain his top two units of Staal-DeAngelo and Brady Skjei-Adam McQuaid. Pionk, who had been on the first pair with Staal for 35 of the first 43 contests, leads New York defensemen with 20 points (5 goals, 15 assists) while getting a team-high 22:41 of ice per game.
Henrik Lundqvist, who enjoyed All-Star weekend in San Jose while helping Team Metro to the three-on-three championship after winning the save-streak skills competition, won’t play Tuesday against the Flyers.
The Blueshirts will presumably go with Alexandar Georgiev, who allowed six goals in a 7-4 Wolf Pack defeat to Springfield on Wednesday. Marek Mazanec was the second goaltender at Sunday’s practice, with Lundqvist excused.
Mats Zuccarello sat out practice for “maintenance,” according to the club. That did not represent a cover story to explain the trade target’s absence, but the Rangers will necessarily be cautious with Zuccarello, who missed substantial time with a groin issue in November and December.
Center Brett Howden took Zuccarello’s spot on the right side of the top line with Mika Zibanejad in the middle and Chris Kreider on the left. The Filip Chytil-Ryan Strome-Jesper Fast unit remained intact while Kevin Hayes skated between Jimmy Vesey and Vladislav Namestnikov and Boo Nieves (back from Hartford) centered Cody McLeod and Pavel Buchnevich.
Quinn, who spent the break in Boston and attended BU’s victory over Merrimack on Monday at Agganis Arena, said Sunday’s message preceding a 70-minute practice was essentially, “We’ve got to get our legs back under us right away.”