Buchnevich out month with broken thumb

Pavel Buchnevich will be a scratch for the foreseeable future — this time through no fault of his own.

Just when the Rangers winger was playing some of his best hockey, Buchnevich broke his thumb Saturday against the Blue Jackets and will miss four to six weeks, the team announced Monday.

Buchnevich had tallied two goals and two assists in his past three games, responding positively to a two-game benching from head coach David Quinn.

“It’s tough, it’s hard, not just for himself,” center and linemate Mika Zibanejad said before the Rangers beat the Canucks 2-1 at the Garden. “He started to play more, he started to play better and with more confidence. You hate to see that happen to any guy. That’s a part of it unfortunately. We’re just hoping for a speedy recovery.”

In Saturday’s 5-4 shootout win over the Blue Jackets, Buchnevich recorded a goal and an assist in 15:41 but did not play at all in the overtime. The 23-year-old Russian appeared to suffer the injury when he was checked into the boards battling for a puck with just over a minute left in regulation.

While Zuccarello missed his third straight game with a groin injury, Quinn expects him to return Thursday against the Islanders.

Brett Howden took another awkward spill into the boards, but not as bad as the one that forced him to miss a game last week.

“I don’t know why I keep doing that,” Howden said. “I caught an edge. Luckily it was my shoulder that went into the boards first and not my head.”

The Rangers shut out Canucks rookie Elias Pettersson, who entered the day with 10 goals and seven assists in 12 games, but his countryman on the Rangers is hardly surprised by his early success.

“I always thought he had it, for sure,” said Lias Andersson, who shared top-line duties with Pettersson on Sweden’s 2018 World Juniors team.

Defenseman Brendan Smith was a healthy scratch for the second straight game. … Fellow blueliner Adam McQuaid (lower body) remains on injured reserve but is “getting closer,” Quinn said.