WHAT A RELIEF
Zibanejad set to return to action following concussion
Unless something unforeseen develops before Tuesday’s Garden puck drop against the Ducks, it will be Mika in the Middle for the Blueshirts.
“I think this is the right time,” said Mika Zibanejad, who missed the past nine games with the aftereffects of the concussion he sustained against Detroit on Nov. 24. “I’ve been taking it step-by-step and now this is another step, and so far so good.
“I’m excited to get back. There’s a little more jump to your game.”
Zibanejad, such an integral part of the Rangers’ attack both at evenstrength and on the first powerplay unit, will slide back between Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich on the first line and resume his role as the right-handed presence on the left side of the top man-advantage unit.
“It’s comforting to have him back in all situations,” said power-play point quarterback Kevin Shattenkirk. “On the power play, it’s not only the way he shoots the puck, but he makes a lot of poise plays when we need them.”
David Desharnais, who filled in for Zibanejad on the top line, will remain in the lineup, moving to the fourth unit between Jimmy Vesey and Paul Carey with Boo Nieves in line to be a healthy scratch. It seems like a counter-intuitive move after the fourth line had established itself as an energy line capable of generating momentum with a strong forecheck.
But coach Alain Vigneault is essentially always going to lean toward a veteran’s pure skill as opposed to constructing a lineup from the bottom up in which a fourthline’s role is uppermost in his calculation.
“There’s no doubt that Kreids and Butchie are good players, but I also think that Jimmy and Paul are good players,” Vigneault said. “I expect this to be an effective line for us.
Meanwhile, the return of Zibanejad, who played one more game against the Canucks on Nov. 26 two days after taking the causal blow from Darren Helm, will give the Rangers a legitimate top line capable of driving possession time. The Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich trio has a 55.7 percentage possession” rating in 171:31, as opposed to the 41.4 rating the line put up while Desharnais filled in for 88:10.
“Sometimes those symptoms come a little longer after the hit, and that’s what happened this time,” Zibanejad said when asked if he regretted playing against Vancouver. “You can’t look back and say what I should have done, or whatever. I’m just happy that everything has been progressing the way we wanted it to and the right way.
“I’m here now and excited to be back.”
The line with Desharnais recorded five goals and was plusthree while the unit with Zibanejad somehow scored only four times in almost double the time while going minus-four, so you can draw your own conclusions over the value of small-sample size Corsi.
The Rangers went 5-3-1 without No. 93, who is tied for second on the club in goals scored at 11 with linemates Kreider and Buchnevich, five off the pace set by Michael Grabner. Zibanejad is fourth on the team with 22 points, five behind Mats Zuccarello. The power play, which scored three goals in the last two games, went 5-for-27 in Zibanejad’s absence.
“If you’re going to be successful over 82 games, you need to find different ways,” said Henrik Lundqvist, whose team is in fourth place in the eight-team Metropolitan Division in which eight points separate first and last. “You’re going to have injuries, you’re going to have guys out of the lineup and that means different players are going to get opportunities and have to run with it.
“Mika has been out for a while and there’s been added ice time for a couple of guys who have done a great job. But he’s such a big part of the team and was playing so well before he got injured.”