Zucc back at practice
TAMPA — Mats Zuccarello was finally back on the ice with his Rangers teammates Thursday afternoon, even if it was in limited capacity.
The injured winger skated with the Blueshirts’ extras at Amalie Arena, the first time he has been on the ice with his teammates since taking a Ryan McDonagh slap shot to the helmet on April 24 in Game 5 of the openinground series against the Penguins. The presumed concussion has kept the diminutive Norwegian out since, with his team down 21 to the Lightning in the bestofseven Eastern Conference final, set to resume with Game 4 on Friday night.
“Coming along,” coach Alain Vigneault said of Zuccarello. “Normal steps. It’s just, there’s a number of steps and this is one of them.”
The Rangers have said there is no change in Zuccarello’s status, meaning he is still out “indefinitely.” He likely would need at least one practice before being considered a viable option for the lineup.
Zuccarello skated with regular scratches Chris Summers, Matt Hunwick and Ryan Bourque, and was taking shots on backup goalie Cam Talbot. He began skating on his own on Monday, and Vigneault had said he didn’t expect Zuccarello to join team practices while in Tampa. This wasn’t much of a “practice,” but the team had previously stated Zuccarello was “progressing,” and this is clear evidence of that.
The Rangers saw some good offensive looks in Game 3 once Vigneault switched right wingers Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller.
Vigneault bumped Miller up to the line with Rick Nash and Derick Brassard, while Hayes was demoted to the fourth line with Tanner Glass and James Sheppard. More than anything, Vigneault said it was because Miller was playing well.
“He had played really well until then,” Vigneault said of the 22yearold Miller, “and I thought he needed more ice time because he was one of our better players. That’s why I put him out there.”
Hayes had been hammered on a huge hit from Steven
Stamkos in the first period, getting up slowly, but Vigneault said there was no injury. Hayes played 1:33 of evenstrength time in the third, and didn’t get a shift for the final 9:03 of regulation.
The Lightning had no update on defenseman Matt Carle, who was hurt in a collision with Stepan with 10:05 remaining in the first period of Game 3.