BOSTON — It took an emergency for the Rangers to recall Pavel Buchnevich after just one AHL game.
When Michael Grabner left the ice during Wednesday’s practice after taking a crosscheck from Adam Clendening during a battle drill, that left the Rangers with only 11 healthy commodities up front in advance of Thursday’s match against the Bruins.
Grabner, who continues to lead the Blueshirts with 26 goals despite a current nine-game drought, made the trip, but was unable to play.
Hence, the recall under emergency conditions of the 21-year-old Buchnevich, who had been out of the lineup for three straight games and four of six — three as a healthy scratch plus one in which he was listed with the flu even though he likely would have been in street clothes, regardless. That was before his assignment Tuesday to Hartford, where the rookie recorded three points (2 goals-1 assist) including the overtime winner in Wednesday’s 4-3 Wolf Pack victory over Springfield.
Buchnevich, who scored a goal in the Rangers’ 2-1 victory over the Bruins, has 16 points (seven goals and nine assists) in 27 games with the Rangers, and before Wednesday night, had posted one point (an assist) in his past 12 NHL games since scoring twice in his Jan. 17 return from a two-month absence due to back and core issues.
The winger was up on a line with Mika Zibanejad and Rick Nash, the combination with which he had played the first six games and seven overall after his extended absence before skating on the fourth line for seven contests.
Absent both Grabner and Jesper Fast, who is down for up to three weeks with a shoulder separation he sustained on Tuesday off a crushing third-period Alex Ovechkin blow, coach Alain Vigneault juggled all of his combinations.
Vigneault reunited the Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello unit that was a staple from late November through mid-January, while shifting Jimmy Vesey onto the line with Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller. Matt Puempel, Oscar Lindberg and Brandon Pirri comprised the fourth line.
The Rangers likely would have been in need of a shake-up even if healthy, with the club enmeshed in its deepest offensive drought of the season by having scored two goals or fewer in six of its previous seven games. Stepan had gone 18 straight games without a goal, Hayes seven straight and Vesey six straight while Zibanejad had one goal in his previous 17, Kreider and Zuccarello each had one in the past 10 and Miller one goal in his past nine games.
There is no roster limit following the trade deadline, but teams are limited to four recalls the remainder of the regular season. Because the recall of Buchnevich is under emergency conditions, it does not count against that limit. But it would count as a regular recall if the Rangers decide to keep Buchnevich once Grabner is healthy enough to return to the lineup.
“We’re taking it one day at a time,” Vigneault said when asked if Buchnevich might remain on the roster. “He had a real strong game [Wednesday], so we called him up.”