Viktor Stalberg, who sustained a suspected concussion on a blow from the Flyers’ Radko Gudas that knocked the Rangers winger out of that game Saturday and Sunday’s as well, returned to practice Thursday.
Stalberg has been cleared to play, but he will be a healthy scratch for Friday’s Garden match against the Maple Leafs while Emerson Etem remains on the fourth line with Dom Moore and Jarret Stoll following a sturdy performance against the Flames on Sunday.
“It was his first practice with the group so I want to give him one more day,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “I’m sure if I need him next Tuesday [against the Capitals] he’ll be ready.”
Stalberg, who said he had had “a few” before, apparently did not suffer post-concussion symptoms in the wake of Saturday’s incident. Gudas got a piece of Stalberg’s jaw on an open-ice hit with 1:06 to play in the second period. The Philadelphia defenseman was neither penalized nor subjected to NHL supplemental discipline for the check.
“I never saw him coming. I was tied up with two guys, but it is what it is,” Stalberg said. “He’s good at stepping up and making big hits.
“I think he hit me in the head, but the league made the decision is was not one of those hits. So be it.”
Stalberg said that he “felt all right,” after taking the hit, but knew he “wasn’t 100 percent.”
“Better safe than sorry,” he said. “It’s good to get back out there and get back up to speed.”
While Vigneault acknowledged that Mats Zuccarello “is off to his best start for me,” and that his summer training was delayed by the recovery period from the head injuries the winger suffered in Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, the coach also said he can be better.
“My expectations of him offensively and defensively are higher than what I’ve seen so far,” the coach said. “I expect more from him at both ends of the rink.
“He’s a good player, he’s a competitive player, he’s a highly skilled player, and because of his injury he wasn’t able to have a full summer of training but now I think he’s finding his game and his rhythm.”
Asked about the plight of his Mets, down 2-0 to the Royals with Game 3 of the Series set for Friday, Vigneault chose a passage from the Coaching Playoff Bible:
“It’s not a race to two; it’s a race to four,” he said. “They’ll be fine.”
Derek Stepan and his wife, Stephanie, are celebrating the birth of their first child, a boy, born earlier this week.