Henrik Lundqvist was back on the Garden ice Wednesday, but not for the Rangers’ game against the Islanders.
Instead, he was getting another tune-up before his expected return this weekend in California.
Lundqvist, out since March 7 with a hip injury, sat again Wednesday night as the team stuck to its plan to get him more practice time.
Coach Alain Vigneault said they would wait until they got to the West Coast to decide whether Lundqvist would play Saturday in Los Angeles or Sunday in Anaheim.
But the coach did say Lundqvist would start two of the three games on the trip, which concludes in San Jose on Tuesday.
If the Rangers weren’t pretty much locked into a playoff spot and were in danger of missing the postseason, Vigneault admitted Lundqvist might have been an option in the Rangers’ 3-2 loss to the Islanders on Wednesday night.
Since they have the luxury of a secure — if not guaranteed — spot in the playoffs, they can afford to give Lundqvist the extra time.
“It gives me another couple of days to work on my game,” Lundqvist said after he skated with a handful of other Rangers on Wednesday morning at the Garden. “Physically, I feel great. I just have to get my speed up. They gave me a game plan when [the injury] happened and we’ve followed it. I’m excited to get back into things.”
Lundqvist said he’s focused on what good might come from his unexpected time off — like being well-rested heading into the playoffs.
“In this sport, you try to look at the positives,” Lundqvist said. “So I look at it that way. I’ll come back in good shape. If I had to choose, I’d play all the time. But now that this happened, I’ll make the most of it and see it as an opportunity to rest and work on my game.”
The Rangers have surrendered 10 goals on the power play over their past eight games, including two more in Wednesday’s loss. The issue clearly is bothering Vigneault.
“It’s something that we obviously need to get better,” he said.
Before the game, Vigneault pointed to the fact that some players were more concerned with scoring instead of playing defense.
“We’ve had success going the other way in getting some chances, but the first part of a good penalty kill is protecting the net and we have a few guys not doing that,” Vigneault said.
The Islanders’ Ryan Strome left the game with an upper-body injury and is expected to be out at least a week.
Rookies Josh Ho-Sang, who was making his first appearance at the Garden, and Anthony Beauvillier created chances for the Islanders throughout the game. Beauvillier had a pair of assists and Ho-Sang had one.
The Islanders’ Doug Weight coached his first game at the Garden.
“It’s special,” said Weight, who made his NHL debut with the Rangers in 1991. “I started my career here.”