Rangers coach Alain Vigneault has decided that right about now would be the best time for the tight-lipped campaign to begin.
Having clinched a playoff berth on Monday night with a Devils loss, Vigneault took Tuesday morning at the Garden before his team beat the Hurricanes, 4-1, to let it be known that from here on out, information about injuries to his players is hardly going to be volunteered.
“As you know, as we move forward here, injury-wise, we will not be giving out a lot of information,” he said. “Just so you know.”
Two of his biggest contributors, Ryan McDonagh and Chris Kreider, remained sidelined, and though both partially took part in the morning skate, neither was made available to the media.
McDonagh, the team’s No. 1 defenseman, has been out since last Tuesday with a left-shoulder injury, and after he took some light, soft wrist shots and stick-handled a bit, Vigneault is continuing to call him “day-to-day” while he missed his third straight game.
The coach was rather indecisive on if he wanted to play McDonagh before the playoffs begin, likely either next Wednesday (if they’re on the road) or Thursday (if they’re home — the Knicks have a home game at the Garden on Wednesday night).
“I’m 50-50 on that,” Vigneault said about playing McDonagh before the postseason. “He’s going to have to be 100 percent, which he should be, but I’m still 50-50 on that.”
Kreider, who has missed seven consecutive games, underwent surgery on March 28 to repair a left-hand injury, and he skated with just a soft cast on his left hand and no glove. He didn’t use the hand to stickhandle at all, and Vigneault said, “He’s out indefinitely.”
When asked if he had any sort of best-case scenario for his return, Vigneault wouldn’t reveal his hand.
“I couldn’t,” Vigneault said, before issuing his reminder about injury disclosures. It is common around playoff time for organization to go mum about their players’ injuries.
In a pregame ceremony, Mats Zuccarello was awarded the “Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award,” the award voted on by the fans and won the previous two years by former captain Ryan Callahan, now with the Lightning.
“I don’t think you can describe it in words,” Zuccarello said about receiving the award. “I would probably put it as one of the highs in my career, so it’s really huge just to be a part of this team. There are so many guys here that deserve this prize and for me to get it, it’s pretty humbling.”
Marc Staal, who was announced as the team’s recipient of the “Good Guy” award from the Rangers chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, reflected quickly on the unpenalized hit he took from Ottawa agitator Chris Neil in Saturday’s 3-2 home loss to the Senators.
“It was a late hit,” Staal said. “It’s a situation where if someone dumps a puck in on me and takes two strides, and I level him, I’m in the penalty box, 100 percent.”
The play started a scrum in which Staal got a double-minor for roughing.
“I wish I went in a little harder than I did, but it’s just the way it goes sometimes,” he said. “That’s the way he plays.”
Jesper Fast played his first game back since being recalled from AHL Hartford on Monday, playing 13:54 while mostly on a line with Brad Richards and Carl Hagelin.
Fast was rather physical, tying the team-high in recording three hits, and also got a shot on net.
“I thought that line got a lot better as the game went on,” Vigneault said. “I remember [Fast] being a good dependable player. He’s just a young player, and he’s going through the process of becoming a professional. He was good for us tonight.”
Dan Carcillo was the odd-man out up front (along with college signee Ryan Haggerty), and Derek Dorsett kept his spot on the reunited fourth line with Brian Boyle and Dominic Moore. Dorsett played a team-low 12:11, while Boyle got 13:10 and Moore got 13:43.
Defenseman Justin Falk remained a scratch, having not played since Dec. 29.