For a team that has struggled to defend, this was not good news.
The Rangers announced Friday that one of their most reliable two-way forwards, Jesper Fast, will miss the next two-to-three weeks with a quadriceps strain suffered during the 4-3 shootout loss to the Devils on Thursday in Newark. It was the eighth game in the past 15 the Rangers had allowed 40-plus shots.
Neither Fast nor the training staff could pinpoint exactly when it happened, but coach Alain Vigneault called Fast “week-to-week.”
“It’s a tough injury,” Vigneault said after Friday’s practice. “We’ll see what happens.”
Set to return to the lineup for Saturday night’s Garden match against the Maple Leafs is rookie Boo Nieves, who had been a healthy scratch for the previous two games since the return of Mika Zibanejad from his nine-game absence because of concussion symptoms. Nieves had been playing well before being benched, and was looking forward to the opportunity.
“I just want to get back in there and get back to doing what I was doing well,” Nieves said.
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There will be a domino effect in the lineup, as well. Vigneault said that J.T. Miller is “definitely” going back to the wing, but the coach was unsure how he was going to configure the lines. For Friday’s practice, Vigneault had Miller on the fourth line with Nieves and Paul Carey, while Jimmy Vesey had been moved up to skate with Michael Grabner and Kevin Hayes.
The team is now carrying just 12 healthy forwards, but despite the holiday roster freeze that took effect Tuesday, they can still make an emergency call-up from AHL Hartford if need be. That wasn’t in the plans as of yet, with the focus instead being on Nieves coming in and helping the Blueshirts go into the three-day Christmas break with some momentum.
“I want to see what he did for us when he played well,” Vigneault said. “He’s a good skater, a powerful skater, he’s good on his puck battles along the walls. There was a couple games where he didn’t get a chance to get in the lineup. I’m sure he’s looking forward for [Saturday].”
Henrik Lundqvist is set to start for a sixth game in a row and for the 31st time in the first 36 games of the season.
The Rangers practiced with their Winter Classic helmets and pants for the second time, and Lundqvist wore his new equipment, which matches the jerseys. After practice, he was standing on his leg pads while trying to break them in.