RALEIGH, N.C. — In the world of bizarre diseases, Derick Brassard said mumps isn’t nearly as bad as scabies — just in case you were wondering.
The Rangers center returned to practice on Friday after his five-day quarantine for mumps ended, and even though he dubbed himself “rusty,” he is likely to play Saturday against the Hurricanes.
“I was just stuck in my apartment for five days,” Brassard said. “I’m probably one of the best ‘Call of Duty’ players in the world right now.”
Brassard was the second confirmed case of mumps on the team thus far, joining Tanner Glass. Winger Lee Stempniak currently is in his second day of quarantine, but his illness has not yet been confirmed as mumps.
“The most frustrating part is right now, we’re trying to reach another level in our games,” Brassard said. “You can see around the league that the intensity went high. Just missing five days it felt like, I haven’t skated in a long time. One day at a time, and just go from there.”
Brassard, 27, said he had scabies while he was with the Blue Jackets, and the itching was worse than the flu-like symptoms brought with mumps.
He woke up in Edmonton on Sunday morning with a fever, and noticed a bump on his face — an indication of the salivary-gland inflammation that comes with mumps. The antiquated disease is running rampant around the NHL, including hitting Penguins star Sidney Crosby, who returned on Thursday after missing three games.
“Saw Crosby last night — had a morning skate and he played over 20 minutes in a tough game,” coach Alain Vigneault said on Friday. “So I would assume Brass will be all right.”
Brassard said he would like to skate in the morning — despite the team not having a formal morning skate — just to make sure he’s good to go. Vigneault has 12 healthy forwards, including Brassard, and said there was no plan to call anyone up, meaning if Brassard were for some reason not able to play, they could dress seven defensemen.
“Talking to our medical staff, he’s supposed to be fine,” Vigneault said.
Backup goalie Cam Talbot signed a one-year, $1.45 million contract extension on Friday.
Talbot, 27, was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. After a slow start, Talbot is now 2-3-1 in seven games, including two shutouts, with a .921 save percentage and a 2.34 goals-against average.
It’s likely Talbot will start Sunday at the Garden on the second leg of this back-to-back against the Hurricanes, while starter Henrik Lundqvist, set to play Saturday, will get Tuesday’s game against the Capitals, the final contest before the three-day Christmas break.
Taking Stempniak’s spot on the right wing of the third line was J.T. Miller, joining Kevin Hayes and Carl Hagelin. Miller has gone from starting the season at center, to left wing (where he exclled since being called up Nov. 29), then back to center in Brassard’s absence, and now to right wing.
Matt Hunwick practiced on the third defensive pair with Kevin Klein, likely making John Moore the lone healthy scratch. It would be Moore’s second consecutive game scratched.