ST. LOUIS — Maybe there was a little more rust than anticipated.
The Rangers got captain Ryan McDonagh back from a two-game absence because of a jaw bruise and neck spasms when he played in their 2-1 win over the Blues on Thursday night at Scottrade Center.
McDonagh made a ghastly turnover at his offensive blue line early in the third period that resulted in a breakaway for Scottie Upshall — thwarted by goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
It was emblematic of a night when McDonagh admitted he probably was trying too hard to make high-risk plays.
“I was kind of up and down,” McDonagh said after playing a team-high 24:44. ��Probably trying to do a little bit too much. Should have been a little bit simpler there, especially in my first game back in a while. It’s a [Blues] team that’s physical, fast, doesn’t give you a lot of room to make plays, tough to beat one-on-one. I found out a couple times I should have been more simple. But legs felt good, everything else was good that way, so it’s a good sign.”
Joining McDonagh in a return was defenseman Marc Staal, who missed Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to the Devils with back spasms.
“Needed a couple days to settle down,” said Staal, who was hurt in Monday’s practice and played 21:16. “Felt a lot better [Thursday] morning, so good to go.”
Coach Alain Vigneault started the game by going back to an old forward combination, putting Mats Zuccarello back on the right side of Derick Brassard’s line, with J.T. Miller on the left. That bumped Jesper Fast back to his old line, with Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan.
To start the third period, he bumped Kreider down to the third line with Oscar Lindberg and Kevin Hayes and moved Viktor Stalberg up. It resulted in Kreider’s game-winning goal 4:18 in, a one-timer finishing a great setup from Lindberg.
“I just thought Viktor was skating well, and Step and [Fast] were making some plays,” Vigneault said. “So I just wanted to make a subtle little change there, and it worked out for us.”
Rookie forward Marek Hrivik was a game-time decision as he battled flu-like symptoms and missed the morning skate — but he played. The team traveled with only 12 forwards, so Vigneault said that if Hrivik had not played, they would have dressed their seven defensemen, and Dylan McIlrath might have gotten some shifts at forward.
Instead, McIlrath was a healthy scratch for the second time in four games.
There was no update on forward Rick Nash, who missed his 14th game with a bone bruise in his left leg. He didn’t make the trip, which concludes in Dallas with an afternoon game against the Stars on Saturday.
Miller said he didn’t know the specific rule about taping his hand and getting into a fight that cost him a match penalty Tuesday.
“We’re working on different solutions to tape it differently and get the same effect,” Miller said. “It definitely wasn’t intentional.”