WASHINGTON — Marc Staal, who missed the final two games of the regular season with an undisclosed issue, said he would be good to go Thursday for Game 1 of the Rangers’ opening-round playoff series against the Penguins.
“I’ll be on for practice Tuesday,” the defenseman said following a 4-2 victory over the Capitals in Saturday afternoon’s regular-season finale. “I’m OK.”
Staal, who may skate on his own Monday while the Blueshirts enjoy their second straight day off before the tournament grind commences, did not disclose the nature of the injury that had sidelined him, but he had been playing with a sore foot since blocking a shot in Carolina on March 21.
Mats Zuccarello, who missed the previous two games with what had been called “overall body soreness,” returned to the lineup Saturday. Rick Nash sat out his second straight game, but his status is not in question for the playoffs.
It is expected Kevin Klein will practice with the team for the first time on Tuesday since sustaining a broken arm in Washington on March 11. Barring an unforeseen setback, the top-four right defenseman should make his return in Game 1.
Keith Yandle finished the season having played 84 games, the final 21 with the Rangers after coming from Arizona on March 1. The defenseman, whose game improved noticeably over the final two weeks, has a consecutive-games-played streak of 469 that began as a Coyote in Edmonton on March 26, 2009, toward the end of his second full NHL season.
Dan Girardi, Dominic Moore and Carl Hagelin played in all 82 games for the Blueshirts. It marked the fifth time Girardi has gone the 82-game distance in his career. The alternate captain has missed only one game the last two years — coach Alain Vigneault rested him for last year’s finale over the defenseman’s protests — and just five of a possible 656 matches since his Rangers debut on Jan. 27, 2007.
While the Rangers established a franchise record of 113 points with Saturday’s victory, nudging the 1993-94, 112-point club a rung down the ladder, the 1970-71 and 1971-72 teams still hold the best points-per-game ratio.
Those two clubs recorded 109 points in 78-game seasons (1.4 per) that did not offer overtime or, obviously, the loser’s point. This team clocked in at 1.38 points-per while the 1993-94 Rangers came in at 1.33 per over an 84-game season.
Derick Brassard reached the 100-goal circle in sending a scorcher past Washington’s Braden Holtby for his 19th of the year.
“When you play on a good team and with good players, those [milestones] become more realistic,” he said.