The impact of the absence of Marc Staal — who will miss his fourth straight when the Rangers meet the Sabres tonight in Buffalo — has been mitigated to a large degree over this small sample size by a combination of a return to last season’s form by Ryan McDonagh and stepped-up play from Anton Stralman and Steve Eminger.
There is no timetable regarding a return for Staal, who was struck just under the right eyelid by Jakub Voracek’s deflection of a Kimmo Timonen drive last Tuesday night, though the Blueshirts are hopeful the defenseman might be back by early next month.
Staal had been reunited with Dan Girardi on the club’s first pair just a handful of games before sustaining the injury. He bumped McDonagh, a model of excellence last year after being elevated to the top tandem when Staal missed the first 36 games with post-concussion syndrome. But McDonagh had struggled this season with inconsistency marked by too many turnovers and missed assignments.
Now, being used with Girardi in a match-up role against the opposition’s top line, McDonagh is asserting himself just as he did last season. Last Thursday at the Coliseum, the tandem was matched against the Islanders’ John Tavares. Sunday in Washington, McDonagh and Girardi were on against Alex Ovechkin. Tonight, coach John Tortorella is likely to try to match the pair against the Thomas Vanek-Cody Hodgson-Jason Pominville unit.
“I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of being in that kind of a matchup role, and want to do as much as I can to contribute,” said McDonagh, who played 25:58 on Sunday, 45 seconds less than his ice time in Friday’s defeat to the Senators.
“Obviously Marc is a huge part of our team and it’s going to take more from everybody, just not myself, to compensate for him not being on the ice.”
Stralman, who now skates with Michael Del Zotto on the second pair, has been as steady and physical as he has been since joining the Rangers as a free agent in November 2011 in one of general manager Glen Sather’s more astute moves.
Eminger, whose ice time bounces up and down by the period, has been effective while playing with an edge on the third pair, in work reminiscent of the first half of 2011-12 when he was a staple on the back end until going down with a shoulder separation in Game 30.
But if the work of the depth players has been important in minimizing the damage of Staal’s absence, McDonagh’s bounce-back has been critical. The defenseman has been assertive and disciplined in his reads while using his great skating ability both in carrying the puck out of the defensive zone and in getting back if initially beaten.
“My legs are the key to my game,” McDonagh said. “I have to use my skating and continue to play a simple game.”
McDonagh was so good last season, it is easy to forget he is only 23 and in his third pro season out of Wisconsin, a veteran of just 145 NHL regular-season games.
“The standard is set so high for [McDonagh], if there are a couple of hiccups in his game, you start to think ‘What’s going on?’ ” Tortorella said. “You have to be really careful with him; he’s a young man.”
* It is status quo regarding the Rangers’ interest in signing restricted free agent Mats Zuccarello, meaning no decision has been reached whether to offer a contract to the winger, whose KHL season ended last Tuesday with a first-round playoff defeat.