Once Ryan McDonagh realized his play on the ice was being compromised by the muscle strain in his abdomen, and once the doctors realized it was getting worse and negatively affecting other parts of his body, the Rangers defenseman finally shut it down.
But the captain is inching closer to a return, as he skated on his own Monday and took part in the morning skate Tuesday before sitting out his fourth consecutive game, a 5-4 loss to the Panthers at the Garden.
“Starting to feel stronger on the ice and do the things I need to do,” McDonagh said. “Been a while there, we were trying to work through it, and it started to get worse and affect some other things. Just try to be smart here with the time we have at this point in the season.”
The schedule had been spread out enough that there wasn’t an immediate rush — nor is there one now — to get McDonagh back on the ice.
Though he said a return for Friday night’s Garden match against the Hurricanes was “what I’m hoping for,” coach Alain Vigneault said he’d first like to see how McDonagh reacts to a full practice Thursday.
“I think a couple more practice days,” Vigneault said, “and he should be on pace for a full recovery.”
McDonagh played through the injury for weeks, struggling to regain his previous high level and often necessitating “maintenance days” off from practice. But following a 3-0 win over the Senators on Nov. 19, he knew it was only getting worse. And he knew his individual play was suffering.
“At times it felt like you’re not able to shoot as well and be as explosive,” McDonagh said. “Skating, I always talk about, as being a big strength of mine. Not having quite the same explosive step, first couple steps, you start thinking and compensating, trying to play around it. That’s not going to help anything. In that aspect, it was time to do something about it.”
First-line center Mika Zibanejad was a very late scratch with an “upper-body injury.” Zibanejad had participated in the morning skate, and took part in warm-ups in his regular spot between Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich, but apparently that was to test the injury.
“Mika came in, tried it in warm-up, and just wasn’t able to go,” Vigneault said. “I’ll know more. I just found out that he was going to try to warm up.”
David Desharnais got a call around 5:30 p.m. saying he was going to possibly replace Zibanejad, as Desharnais was set to be a healthy scratch for the fourth time in the past five games. He ended up collecting three assists, playing his best game as a Ranger.
“Too bad we didn’t have the two points,” Desharnais said, “but from a personal standpoint, it’s nice to have a game like that.”
Brendan Smith blocked a huge Mark Pysyk shot late in the third period and could hardly get off the ice. Immediately after the game, Vigneault said he had not checked yet on Smith’s status.
Fourth-line center Boo Nieves returned after missing Sunday’s 4-3 shootout win against the Canucks with a hip pointer. The injury occurred late in the first period of Friday’s 2-1 overtime win against the Red Wings, and Vigneault made it seem like Nieves should have been able to play through it.
“As I think he mentioned, he’s got to learn to push through some of the minor bumps and bruises that a player goes through in a season,” Vigneault said. “You’re never 100 percent in this game. He’s just a young player trying to become a pro.”