Out of sight, out of mind is the mantra when it comes to injuries in pro sports. But coach John Tortorella last night acknowledged the body blow the Rangers suffered when Ryan Callahan sustained the broken left hand blocking a shot in Pittsburgh last Wednesday that will keep him sidelined for up to two months.
“I try not to talk a lot about injuries, but we’re not going to replace Ryan Callahan,” Tortorella said before the Blueshirts’ 4-3 shootout defeat to the Lightning last night at the Garden. “He’s one of the guys out of anyone on the team who is critical to how we want to play.
“I’m not making excuses, but he’ll surely be missed,” he said. “It’s a major hamper on our lineup, what Ryan Callahan does for us. We try to play a style that I think we can be successful with, and he’s a huge part of the engine of our team, that’s all I need to say.”
Callahan personifies these Black-and-Blueshirts, in on the forecheck, relentless finishing his checks, blocking shots, adding speed and energy to the effort. The alternate captain currently ranks second in the league in hits and second among forwards in blocked shots.
“He’s a huge part of what we are,” Tortorella said. “We miss him and we’re going to.”
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Derek Stepan, 20 and 36 games into his NHL career, mentored Mats Zuccarello, 23, who played on his wing in the Norwegian’s first big league match.
“I don’t think I’m a veteran, but I was kind of in his boat,” said Stepan, the freshman pro out of the University of Wisconsin. “Anytime anyone offers me advice, I listen and try to soak it in, so if there was something I could help him with, that’s what I wanted to do.
“I could see early on that he was kind of nervous, but he settled in real quick.”
Zuccarello, who had played 32 games for the AHL Whale (13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points), was using a shorter stick than the one he had used in training camp.
“I had to cut my stick by a couple of inches so I could have a little more control in the corners [and in tight],” said the 5-foot-6 Norwegian who signed a two-year free agent deal with the Rangers after being named the MVP of the Swedish Elite League. “Everything [in North America] is so much more intense than in Europe.
“Everywhere you go on the ice, it’s quicker and more intense,” Zuccarello said. “Everybody is crunching and hitting. I knew it was going to take some changes for me. [The NHL] is the world’s greatest league. I wasn’t going in right away.”
After the game, Zuccarello, who caught general manager’s Glen Sather‘s eye playing for Norway at last year’s Olympics, said he had been nervous at the start of the match but gained confidence as the match evolved.
“I came in pretty nervous and thinking a lot but once the game goes on more and more, [I became more confident],” he said. “It was a fast game, but I felt I took it pretty well and had a decent game, but to lose a game is always tough and we are not happy about that.”
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Erik Christensen converted for the third time in three attempts this year out of the shootout leadoff spot, beating Dan Ellis with a one-hand reach-around move. Christensen is a career 21-for-38.
Stepan missed for the third time for the Blueshirts, 2-1 in shootouts, but vowed, “My shootouts will come.”
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Sean Avery, effective every turn, played just two shifts in the third and did not get on after the 7:49 mark as Tortorella cut down to three lines for the duration of the period.
Rangers, 0-1-1 in their last two, face the Islanders at home on Monday before traveling to New Jersey on Wednesday for the final two matches of the calendar year.
Blueshirts will monitor Marian Gaborik, who missed last night’s match with a sore groin, when they next skate on Sunday. The NHL shuts down today and tomorrow.
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According to the Rangers, Derek Boogaard visited a neurologist on Dec. 13, five days after taking a hard right hand to the face from Matt Carkner in their Dec. 9 fight in Ottawa.
Boogaard, who had been suffering from headaches into this week, has been feeling better the last couple of days and will be re-examined on Tuesday.