Clendening keeps his game up to scratch

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 year.

In contrast, Girardi’s Corsi-for was 44.8 percent, fifth-worst on the team, and Klein’s was 48.4, ninth-best.

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, while 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.”