Rick Nash, the Rangers’ most important forward, missed practice on Tuesday as a precaution, kept off the ice for a third straight day for what the team called “maintenance.”
The Blueshirts had Sunday and Monday off following their first-round defeat of the Canadiens, which ended with a Game 6 triumph at the Garden on Saturday. Nash, 32, was terrific throughout, scoring two big goals and adding an assist while being a force at both ends of the rink.
But with Game 1 of their second-round series against the Senators set for Thursday in Ottawa, coach Alain Vigneault did his best to assure any nervous nellies Nash will be ready, starting with participation in Wednesday’s practice before the Rangers travel to Canada’s capital.
“We just gave him an extra day; he’ll be fine,” Vigneault said. “He’s going to practice [Wednesday]. As you saw during the last series, he was real physical. So just thought an extra day off for an old man like Rick wouldn’t hurt.”
With the elevated postseason play of newcomer Brendan Smith, Vigneault was quick to point out the defenseman is with the Rangers as a byproduct of the offseason trade of Derick Brassard to the Senators in the deal that brought back Mika Zibanejad.
Part of that deal was the two teams swapping 2018 picks, with the Rangers getting a second-rounder and the Senators getting a seventh. General manager Jeff Gorton then flipped that second-round pick — along with a third-rounder this year — to the Red Wings to obtain Smith just before the trade deadline.
“I don’t know if Jeff was thinking ahead at the time, but it did come in real handy for us,” Vigneault said of the 28-year-old Smith, who is set to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. “He has been very good in the room, very vocal and very intense, and that’s good. You need that intensity, you need that will at this time. He’s doing a real good job for us.”
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Rookie defenseman Brady Skjei had a terrific first round, but found himself on the bench for the final 9:07 of the third period in Game 6. Skjei played just 2:23 in the third after getting 3:31 in the second period, accumulating 12:33 of total ice time, the lowest among Rangers defensemen.
“I thought at the end, we’re closing in, I thought some guys’ games were just a little bit better as far as making quicker plays,” Vigneault said. “Sometimes you just shorten up your bench a little bit. Brady has been a real effective player for us. There was just that 10-minute situation there.”