TARRYTOWN, N.Y. – We have stumbled upon the one benefit to the meandering start of this Rangers-Penguins series.
It’s providing enough time to turn up the star power.
For Game 2 it was Pittsburgh centre Evgeni Malkin returning to the lineup after a five-week absence with a shoulder injury. When the teams play Game 3 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh and Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury are both possibilities.
The precise likelihood of one or both returning is difficult to peg now that the playoff cone of secrecy has descended, but McDonagh was a full participant at Rangers practice on Monday. It was an unexpected development for a player who has been out since blocking a shot with his right hand on April 5.
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS:
First Round Series Previews | Broadcast Schedule
Stanley Cup Playoffs Fantasy Hockey
“I did not expect him to skate today with the team,” said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault. “He skated on his own yesterday and I guess things went well – well to the point that he came in this morning and said it was feeling better than it was yesterday.”
Asked if the veteran defenceman might be ready for Game 3, Vigneault wouldn’t close the door entirely: “At this time I would say I’m doubtful, but stranger things have happened before.”
The Penguins were similarly mum on Fleury’s status. They actually had three goalies on the ice for a skate in suburban Pittsburgh – Matt Murray joined Fleury and Jeff Zatkoff, the starter for Games 1 and 2 – and coach Mike Sullivan listed his injured goalies as “day to day.”
Fleury suffered his second concussion of the season on March 31, but has taken part in every practice for the last week.
When you couple all of the injuries to significant players with the fact we’ve only had two games in the six days since the playoffs began, there has been an unusual start to this series. It’s almost like it hasn’t truly begun.
The teams are tied 1-1 and the coaches haven’t truly engaged in the matchup game, particularly since most of the lineup decisions have been dictated by health.
The Rangers blue line, in particular, has been taxed with Dan Girardi also out with an undisclosed injury. That pressed 22-year-old Brady Skjei into action for what have been his eighth and ninth career NHL games and Vigneault hasn’t exactly sheltered him: He played 17 and 19 minutes in Games 1 and 2.
Skjei is a calm fellow, but indicated the only thing even close to the atmosphere he experienced in this series was the 2014 NCAA title game in his sophomore season with the University of Minnesota.
“There’s nothing like this,” said Skjei. “This is a lot of fun.”
He is a left-handed shooting skater being deployed on the right side. That was an act of prescience by the organization: They elected to start playing him out of position with AHL Hartford in December just in case this kind of situation arrived. He’d never done it any level of hockey previously.
Mistakes are even more magnified than usual under the playoff spotlight, but he’s managed positive possession numbers in both games.
“I’m playing pretty confident right now,” said Skjei. “I’m just trying to make the simply play when it’s there and not try to do too much with the puck. When (making errors) starts creeping into your mind that’s when usually things go wrong.
“I’m just trying to keep that totally out of my system.”
Dylan McIlrath filled in as the sixth man for Game 2, but it’s not clear if he or the recently recalled Raphael Diaz will be in that spot on Tuesday. Perhaps it will be neither if McDonagh makes a surprising entrance to the series.
Either way, the pace is about to accelerate here in a hurry – the remaining games will be played every other day and should feature the best players on both sides eventually. Then it will come down to the Penguins skill vs. New York’s experience, just as we expected.
“I think everybody is excited,” said Vigneault. “For me, it doesn’t get much better than this. Every night right now you watch the games, the intensity, the battle level; it’s the best time of the year and we’re part of it, so let’s make the best of it.”
Getting some of the stars back on the ice is a good way to start.
