Zibanejad out again, still on track for opener

Mika Zibanejad missed his third consecutive day of camp, but coach David Quinn does not seem to believe he is in jeopardy of missing the Rangers’ Jan. 14 season opener against the Islanders.

“All indications are that he should be ready for opening night,” the coach said. “We’re expecting him back soon. I’d be a lot more worried if we were three or four days away and weren’t seeing him.”

The Rangers are conducting a 7 p.m. scrimmage on Thursday. Having been off his skates since at least Saturday, there is no reason to expect Zibanejad to play in what will be a game simulation. The Rangers are off Friday. So, perhaps Saturday for the center, whose absence has been unexplained.

Artemi Panarin missed Wednesday’s session for what the team called, “procedural reasons,” presumably unrelated to his health. The winger is expected to return Thursday.

➤ Tony DeAngelo talked of the adjustments that will be required with his move from his natural right side to the left. If all goes well, he will team with Jacob Trouba on a top-four matchup pair that will present a test for the defensively challenged defenseman. Not that that is anything the dynamic offense-man particularly wishes to hear.

“As far as the matchups go, I’m looking forward to it,” said DeAngelo, who was plus-14 (56 GF/42 GA) at five-on-five while getting third-pair matches skating primarily with Marc Staal. “I think personally I’m getting kind of tired about all the defensive woes of mine so my main goal this year is to be the best I can defensively. I think the offense will take care of itself.”

DeAngelo can dig in for battles in front and in the corners, but he hasn’t done it consistently. His rush reads need to improve, as well. Of course, that could be a blanket statement applied to every Rangers defenseman, all of whom seemed to quickly cede the line on rushes while receiving insufficient support from the forwards.

Staal was the ultimate stay-athome guy while Trouba has been a two-way defenseman throughout his career, often relied upon for offense.