Wojtek Wolski was in the lineup.
For the Rangers.
Not for the Whale.
For the winger, who yesterday morning diplomatically avoided saying whether he would accede to the Rangers’ request to accept a conditioning assignment to the AHL farm if it remained on the table, played his first game since Nov. 3 when Brandon Dubinsky was sidelined with a sore right shoulder.
Wolski, who underwent sports hernia surgery on Nov. 8, played 14:50 in the Rangers’ 3-0 Garden defeat to the Senators, opening in Dubinsky’s spot on the left with Brad Richards and Ryan Callahan before coach John Tortorella juggled his personnel beginning with the second period.
“To be fair to him I want to watch the tape,” Tortorella said when asked for an assessment of Wolksi’s play. “I thought he had a couple of good shifts, but I want to be fair.”
Dubinsky, who missed one shift in Tuesday’s 2-1 shootout victory over the Coyotes after being slammed into the boards by Phoenix’s Taylor Pyatt early in the first period, finished that match with 20:09 of ice time but did not participate in either Tuesday’s practice or yesterday’s optional morning skate.
“He’s sore. He’s unable to play,” Tortorella said before the game. “We want to get him healthy, so it doesn’t become a bigger thing.”
Dubinsky’s uncertain status going into the weekend over which the Rangers play in Toronto tomorrow night and in Montreal on Sunday, means Wolski won’t have to immediately decide whether to report to the Whale. The winger had said he had not reached a decision regarding the request that was first made on Tuesday.
“I have no idea,” Wolski said. “There’s too much going on to speculate.”
Wolski, who has played in six games all year after first suffering a groin injury in training camp, admitted to being frustrated by the lost first-half of the season.
“Definitely it is emotionally and mentally draining not being able to play,” the winger said. “I’ve never been out this long.
“You want to get back into it, but the way the team has been playing, it’s tough to make changes.”
Given the delicacy with which Wolski chose his words when queried following the morning skate about accepting the conditioning assignment that can last up to 14 days (“Media 101, right?” he said), it can be safely inferred that he suggested the Rangers seek to trade him if there is no long term spot for him in Tortorella’s lineup.
Wolski, who turns 26 next month, is due to become a restricted free agent on July 1. It is, however, extremely unlikely the Rangers would make the $4 million qualifying offer necessary to retain his rights. In that case, Wolski would go on the open market.
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Four of the Rangers’ 10 regulation losses (27-10-4) have been by shutout. … The Rangers are 9-2 in their last 11 and 24-7-1 in their last 32 games.
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Start last night was Henrik Lundqvist’s 31st in the club’s 41 games, the same number he received in last year’s first half. Lundqvist started 41 of the club’s first 56 games last year before starting the final 26 when Marty Biron suffered a broken collarbone minutes in practice minutes before the Feb. 26 trade deadline.
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Marc Staal’s time increased for the fourth straight time, the alternate captain getting 19:03 in his fifth game, thus surpassing Tuesday’s previous high of 18:16. … Brian Boyle recorded eight hits in a season-high 19:56 of ice that led the forwards. … B randon Prust, who moved up to the line centered by Brad Richards, played 9:44.