WASHINGTON — There have been no updates on the status of Mika Zibanejad, but one thing the Rangers know is that their top-line center will not be available when they return home to host the Devils on Saturday night.
Zibanejad did not come on this two-game road trip that started Tuesday in Pittsburgh and concluded Friday night with a 4-2 loss to the Capitals at Capital One Arena. He is suffering from a delayed onset of concussion symptoms, dating back to a hit he took from Red Wings forward Darren Helm back on Nov. 24.
Zibanejad played the next game against the Canucks, but the effects got worse and he now has missed four straight. He did ride a stationary bike Monday in New York while the team practiced, but coach Alain Vigneault said that he was “day-to-day” and just following the concussion “protocol.”
Yet when asked Friday if it was possible Zibanejad would be available Saturday, Vigneault succinctly answered, “No.”
It was unclear who was going to start in net for the Rangers on Saturday, but certainly possible Henrik Lundqvist was going to play both games of this back-to-back after missing Tuesday’s game with an illness.
Lundqvist said Friday morning that he felt “rested,” and then he was pretty happy with his 36-save performance against the Capitals.
“I thought we battled hard, and personally I battled hard to help the team get back in this game,” he said. “Overall I felt really good.”
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Backup Ondrej Pavelec had gotten the start in Pittsburgh, and made 41 saves en route to a 4-3 victory. Even Lundqvist knows the team is going to need Pavelec going forward.
“We’re not going to get in [to the playoffs] unless we have both of us going,” Lundqvist said.
This was Lundqvist’s 15th start in the past 16 games, but the 35-year-old enjoys the heavy workload and said it actually makes it easier on him to prepare.
“I just like playing,” he said. “When I get into that flow, I relax more. I spend less energy to prepare. That helps me be in the right place mentally.”
The Rangers’ power play went 0-for-3 and is now 3-for-30 (10 percent) over the past 10 games, with two goals being gifted by poor goaltending from the Hurricanes on Dec. 1. It’s also been made tougher with the absence of Zibanejad, one of only two right-handed shooters used on the man-advantage.
“We’re in adjustment here, since Mika has been gone,” Vigneault said. “Obviously the way the power play sets up with that unit is a little different. So we haven’t had a lot of time to work at it, two practices. But it is something that had been very good for us, had given us important goals, momentum goals, and hopefully they’ll do that [again] for us.”