Sports

Neck stiffness unlikely to sideline Lundqvist

Apparently, neck stiffness isn’t anything Henrik Lundqvist can’t play through.

The Rangers franchise goaltender might not have taken part in an optional practice on Thursday, but coach Alain Vigneault is expecting him to play on Friday night against the Islanders at the Garden, just two days after Lundqvist took an elbow to the head from Penguins forward Chris Kunitz.

After practice, Vigneault said he hadn’t checked on Lundqvist’s status, but a team spokesman confirmed there is no injury concern and there would be nothing stopping him from playing.

“If he’s good to go, he’s going to play,” said Vigneault, who will take Lundqvist’s season-high of consecutive starts to eight, keeping backup Cam Talbot on the bench. “We have four games in six nights, so there is a good possibility Cam is going to play one of those games. I’m not sure which one.”

After the Islanders, the Rangers play host to the Wild and Maple Leafs on Sunday and Monday, respectively, ending their nine-game homestand. They then go to play six of the next seven on the road, starting Dec. 27 in Washington against the Capitals.

As the holiday roster freeze approached on Thursday at midnight, the Rangers recalled forward J.T. Miller from AHL Hartford, while sending down forward Arron Asham and defenseman Dylan McIlrath. Miller has now made three round trips from the big club to the minors.

Asham played sparingly in his three games since being recalled on Dec. 9, and McIlrath, the 6-foot-5 rookie nicknamed “The Undertaker,” played two in a row before being scratched in Wednesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Penguins, making his NHL debut on Thursday.

The future of forward Taylor Pyatt was put into jeopardy after being scratched for the past two games — and a locker room conversation with general manager Glen Sather on Wednesday morning — but Pyatt was still with the team as the roster freeze approached.

“He is part of our 13 forwards that we have here,” Vigneault said. “I’m not quite sure when he’s going to get another opportunity, but when he does, hopefully do enough to stay in the lineup.”

The Rangers are not willing to give any information about stalwart defenseman Marc Staal besides the fact there is “no update” on his condition in the aftermath of his second concussion in three years.

Asked if there was any update on Staal, a team spokesman said “No.” Asked if he was working out off-ice, as he did for three days in a row late last week, the spokesman said, “No update.” Asked if he has been cleared to be on-ice, he said, “no update.”


In explaining why winger Chris Kreider didn’t see the ice at all in the overtime or shootout on Wednesday, Vigneault had a rather candid explanation.

“Board battles,” Vigneault said. “He didn’t come up with a number of pucks that he needs to come up with to be effective. He didn’t finish checks on opportunities that he needed to. I felt there were some guys that were ahead of him as far as playing. Then when you get to overtime, you find your top eight forwards, seven forwards, and go from there.”