Mika Zibanejad “ready to go” Friday

Breathe easy, Mika Zibanejad is okay.  New York Rangers fans had a frightening moment in Tuesday’s loss to the Devils. it was the sight of Zibanejad crashing into the boards and struggling to get to the bench. He didn’t take the ice  for the last three minutes when the Rangers were desperately trying to tie the score.   The thought of losing Zibanejad for any period of time would be devastating in this shortened season and with his concussion history there was real concern in Rangerland.

“They both (ZIbanejad & Lemieux) will be fine moving forward” – David Quinn

All of those concerns were put to rest by David Quinn when he spoke after practice Wednesday.  Quinn said that the Swedish center had upper and lower body injury issues and he was not at practice for a maintenance day saying that Zibanejad “would be ready to go for Friday.”

A lot of is made of Zibanejad’s injury history, but it is  bit exaggerated.  He missed 13 games last season after a reverse hit by Patrice Bergeron, but played all 82 games the season before. In 2017-18 he missed 10 games with a concussion.  The only major injury he has suffered was a broken fibula in 2016-17. his first year in New York. missing 25 games. He may not be an iron man, but he isn’t fragile.

Ryan Strome‘s season

One player who hasn’t been off to a good start is Ryan Strome.    Quinn spoke about him. “Stromer is still trying to find his game, he’s not happy with the way things are going, it is three games, we need him to be on the top of his game.”

Strome hasn’t gotten a point so far this season and he has not looked decisive, something that goes back to the Carolina series last summer.  He is getting an awful lot of ice time, averaging almost 21 minutes per game, but he hasn’t looked impressive.

It’s clear that Quinn is reluctant to break up the Panarin-Strome pairing, but he may have to consider it.  It certainly isn’t helping Alexis Lafrenière who did not impress on Tuesday and rode the bench late in the game, seeing only two shifts in the last 11 minutes.

Quinn said that Lafrenière’s ice time was a reflection other players doing better, but so far the right wing slot on the second line is still an issue.

Lineup changes?

Brendan Lemieux missed practice with a lower body injury, but Quinn said that he will be good to go on Friday.  The injury was sustained when Lemieux blocked two shots in a row.

In practice, Pavel Buchnevich was playing on the right side with Panarin. It could be a hint that Quinn may try them together though the coach maintained that the lines used in practice were due to the injuries to Zibanejad and Lemieux.

In  a post-practice interview, it sounded like Buchnevich seemed to think he would be playing with Panarin on Friday. When asked if playing with his fellow Russian would give him more space, he answer “we’ll see in the game against Pittsburgh.”

Quinn also said that a decision about Tony DeAngelo’s return to the lineup is being discussed, but the call of who sits and who plays will be made by Friday’s game in Pittsburgh.

COVID news

There was some news on the COVID front in the NHL.  The Washington Capitals were fined $100k for violating league pandemic protocols.  Here’s the league’s explanation:

“The National Hockey League announced today that it has fined the Washington Capitals $100,000 for Player violations of the League’s COVID-19 Protocols which involved social interactions among team members who were in close contact and who were not wearing face coverings.”

Here is what the Caps had to say:

The NHL also announced that the Carolina Hurricanes will have their games postponed until January 23 because they have five players on the “NHL’s COVID Protocol Related Absence List.”  They also closed the team’s training facilities and will remain closed until further notice.

With the Capitals in the same division as the Rangers, their COVID situation will have to be monitored closely.  The Rangers don’t play the Capitals until a home game on February 4 and then not again until a two game back-to-back road series on February 20-21.