Duncan Keith is leading the NHL in average ice time at 28:29 per, with Chicago defense partner Brent Seabrook fifth at 25:28. So it’s readily understandable that Rangers coach John Tortorella has no problem with Dan Girardi and Marc Staal getting 24:44 and 24:00 per, respectively, for 13th and 23rd overall in the league.
“I’m trying to be careful with our forwards because of the glut of games on the schedule. I’m worried about that, but to me the 24:00-to-27:00 isn’t a big number for those guys,” Tortorella said before the Blueshirts’ 3-2 Garden defeat to the Bruins. “When Rozy [Michal Rozsival] comes back, we’ll probably settle down on the minutes.”
Girardi, who did not wear a visor after taking seven stitches to close a forehead wound he sustained when he was hit by the puck late in the third period of Monday’s 3-2 OT victory in Pittsburgh, got 23:10 last night, his fewest minutes since Oct. 29. Staal played a game-high 25:35
Rozsival, who has missed four straight with a strained right shoulder, is expected to begin skating at the practice rink while the Rangers play at Colorado tomorrow night and Minnesota on Saturday.
“Hopefully after the weekend he’ll be a lot closer,” said Tortorella. “He’d probably have to practice with us before he could play, so we’ll see.”
That likely means that Rozsival wouldn’t be back for Monday’s home game against Calgary. The target date would probably be Wednesday night in Tampa Bay.
The Blueshirts, who are in the midst of a stretch in which they’ll play five games in seven nights and nine in 14, are bringing only six defensemen on the jaunt rather than promoting one from the AHL to serve as a standby.
“They’re not ready in Hartford,” said Tortorella. “We want them to keep playing and not disrupt their development.
“If there’s an emergency, we’ll get someone in.”
*
Chris Drury, sidelined since Oct. 15 when he suffered a second break in his left index finger in his first (and only) game after first sustaining a break on the third day of training camp, began skating on his own yesterday.
The ETA for the captain is likely two to three weeks.
Vinny Prospal, sidelined all year with a knee injury for which he underwent surgery on Oct. 18, “is a distance away,” according to Tortorella.
*
The Blueshirts killed all three Boston power plays, extending their penalty streak to 17 straight and 23 of the last 24 over the last seven games after allowing 13 PPG’s on 59 time short in the first dozen matches.
“We haven’t changed anything, we’re executing better,” said Tortorella. “[When we have trouble], it always starts with us over-extending. We’ve been working from the middle out and making better reads and we’re doing a much better job up the ice.
“We’re doing a much better job stopping the umbrella look and keeping the puck out of the middle of the ice.”
The Rangers generally have been going with three distinct PK tandems: Brandon Dubinsky-Ryan Callahan; Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust; Ruslan Fedotenko-Artem Anisimov. Derek Stepan has been the seventh killer.
The Blueshirts, who did not get a power play in Monday’s game, didn’t get their first last night until the 4:09 mark of the second. Including the final 5:06 of Sunday’s match against the Oilers, the Rangers thus went 89:15 without getting a man advantage.