Alain Vigneault wasn’t willing to say Henrik Lundqvist is ahead of schedule in returning from his hip injury suffered March 7 against the Panthers, but the Rangers’ franchise goalie could be back sooner than expected.
The coach said Lundqvist skated Wednesday and Thursday, and will skate with the team Friday morning before its Garden match against the Panthers. He will stay behind and work with goaltending coach Benoit Allaire while the team goes to Minnesota for the second leg of the back-to-back Saturday night, but he will keep up with the on-ice work every day until he either needs a rest or is ready to play.
“Henrik is feeling a lot better,” Vigneault said after Thursday’s practice. “He’s going through the on-ice process right now with Ben. That’s a very important position so we have to make sure that he’s 100 percent.”
The original timeline of two-to-three weeks put Lundqvist’s possible return during the team’s three-game trip to California starting March 25 in Los Angeles. But now he might be ready sooner.
“Originally that was our mindset, that we were thinking he should be ready for that, and we haven’t changed,” Vigneault said. “But I am saying that to you that he is feeling better, so we’ll see how things move forward here.”
Defenseman Dan Girardi fully participated in practice Thursday for the first time since he was shut down just over two weeks ago in hopes the deep gash on the inside of his right ankle would heal.
Girardi suffered the injury while blocking a shot on Feb. 7 against the Ducks, missed the next two games then played the following seven before being told he needed to rest if the wound was going to heal.
He had been totally off the ice with a “vacuum” on his ankle to speed up the healing process. He returned to the ice with a few players Wednesday, and after Thursday’s full practice, still needs a while to get back to be ready for a game.
“A couple weeks without skating, it’s going to be a little harder out there,” Girardi said. “Straight lines were OK, but turning and everything felt a little slow. Something we need to get a little better at.”
Kevin Klein came on the ice late Thursday as the veteran blueliner recovers from his back injury that has kept him out since Feb. 23, and caused him to miss 13 of the previous 15 games. It was the second straight day he was on the ice.
“I think the day-to-day spasms are almost over,” Vigneault said jokingly, as the injury has taken a lot longer to heal than first expected.
The defensive pairs at practice remained the same, with Steven Kampfer on the right side of the third pair with rookie Brady Skjei. That left Adam Clendening as an extra, set to be scratched for his fifth straight game.