When Ryan Callahan went skating off the ice on Tuesday, his left arm hanging limp from his shoulder, he thought it could be a while before he would be able to play again. Then he got good news on Wednesday when his MRI exam revealed a partial dislocation, known as a subluxation, and a predicted return of 10-14 days.
Thursday, before the Rangers lost 3-0 to the Penguins at the Garden, Callahan sat with no sling or brace on his shoulder and expressed his relief.
“It definitely could have been a lot worse,” said Callahan, who doesn’t have a definitive timetable for when he can return to on-ice activities. “It’s just a matter of a little bit of rehab, treatment and getting back at it.”
Callahan was hurt when he got into a scrap with the Flyers’ Max Talbot early in the third period of what would be a 2-1 Rangers’ win. Talbot yanked at his arm, and Callahan went down to the ice in apparent pain. Yet the incident has not deterred Callahan from dropping the gloves in the future if the opportunity arises.
“Fighting is part of the game,” Callahan said. “If it presents itself again, then you have to do it.”
If the predicted two-week time frame pans out, then Callahan will miss six games of this lockout-shortened 48-game season.
* Marc Staal and Penguins’ star Evgeni Malkin got into an ugly scrum in the waning seconds of the first period, drawing offsetting roughing penalties. Once down on the ice, Malkin’s stick came down on the Rangers defenseman’s head, and he was none too pleased.
“He tomahawked straight on top of the helmet,” Staal said. “It dazed me. [I] don’t know how that’s not called or something. I understand we’re battling in front, things like that, but he’s falling down, it’s like he was chopping wood right across my head.”
* Rookie forward Chris Kreider took part in the morning skate, his first on-ice team activity since finding out he had a bone chip in his right ankle last Thursday. After 40 minutes of additional conditioning with assistant general manager Jim Schoenfeld, Kreider was cautious about his timetable to return.
“We’ll see how it feels tomorrow,” he said. “It’s a day-to-day thing. It’s hard to judge on one skate. It’s important to see how it bounces [back] tomorrow.”