Every team in the NHL has players like Adam Clendening, whose sporadic playing time and extended periods out of the lineup drive fans nuts.
And now, in this age of advanced statistical analysis, those fans are loaded with ammo.
The Rangers righty defenseman got back into the lineup in Thursday night’s 4-3 win over the Predators at the Garden as Dan Girardi was out with an ankle injury. It was Clendening’s first game after sitting out four straight as a healthy scratch, and it was his 19th game in the first 54 of the season.
He was steady in getting 15:15 of ice time paired mostly with Marc Staal, getting one shot on net and blocking two Nashville attempts.
“I thought Adam played well,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “It’s not easy. He gets here [Thursday] morning and finds out.”
The most cited piece of evidence for Clendening’s contributions in his first season as a Ranger are his possessions numbers. The 24-year-old went into the game with a 55.2 Corsi-for percentage while playing 5-on-5, meaning his team takes the majority of shot attempts (and therefore has the puck more) when he is on the ice. It was the best percentage of any player that has been with the team all season.
In contrast, Girardi’s Corsi-for was 44.8 percent, fifth-worst on the team, and Kevin Klein’s was 48.4, ninth-best.
“I think it plays to my strengths to move it out of the zone quickly and make a good first pass,” Clendening said. “So the quicker I do that, the quicker I get back to it.”
Vigneault also said earlier in the season he would like to occasionally rest Girardi as a precaution to try to keep the weathered veteran healthy. But the only time that happened was Nov. 6 in a game against the Jets. The 32-year-old Girardi played the next 41 straight games. The only game Klein missed since he started his year Oct. 22 was as a healthy scratch Dec. 1 in Buffalo.
Vigneault said Girardi was considered “day-to-day,” after having to get stitches on the inside of his right ankle after blocking a shot — many shots, really — in Tuesday’s 4-1 victory over the visiting Ducks.
“I’m hoping that it won’t be very long,” Vigneault told reporters after Thursday’s morning skate. “The swelling just has to go down. Should be good in a couple days.”
Forward Matt Puempel was a scratch for the second straight game, and winger Brandon Pirri remained out for his fourth straight.
“They’re working extremely hard and they know at some point we’re probably going to need them,” Vigneault said. “They have to be ready.”