THRONE A BONE: Henrik Lundqvist and the Blueshirts are taking advantage of their break before Thursday’s first-round Stanley Cup playoff opener against the Capitals in Washington. (Getty Images)
THRONE A BONE: Henrik Lundqvist and the Blueshirts are taking advantage of their break before Thursday’s first-round Stanley Cup playoff opener against the Capitals in Washington. (Getty Images)
It’s Operation Recharge and Recuperate for the Rangers, who yesterday went through the first of three days of prep work for their first-round playoff series against the Capitals that will commence Thursday night in Washington.
The delay in opening the best-of-seven that would conclude with three matches in four nights — including back-to-back Games 6 and 7 if the series goes the distance — at least gives the Blueshirts a little extra time for their injured players to regain their health.
It also gives Henrik Lundqvist time in which to shore up his game and prepare for the singular challenge of facing the once-and-again dynamic Alex Ovechkin, who led the NHL with 32 goals this season.
And what’s good for The King is good for the Rangers.
“After playing so many games, a lot of days is good for me,” Lundqvist, who started the Blueshirts’ final 14 matches and 23 of the last 24, told The Post. “It gives me time to recover a little bit and think about what’s coming.
“There are no secrets, but having these extra days is good for me, mentally.”
Physically, the Rangers will enter this series without Ryane Clowe and Brian Boyle (and Derek Dorsett) up front and without Marc Staal on the back end, thus leaving a depleted bench for coach John Tortorella, who likes to shorten it under the best of circumstances.
Boyle, who missed the final six games with a right knee injury he sustained in Philadelphia on April 16, did not skate yesterday. Neither did Clowe, who at first appeared to suffer a leg injury midway through the second period of last Thursday’s match in Carolina but is now instead believed to have been concussed during the playoff-clinching victory.
It is not known whether either forward will be available as the series progresses.
Dorsett, sidelined since suffering a broken clavicle on March 7 while still a member of the Blue Jackets, practiced while wearing a non-contact jersey. The truculent winger revealed he had not been cleared for contact following a weekend medical exam.
“There haven’t been any setbacks, but there’s nothing really that I can do about it,” Dorsett said. “It’s about 7 1/2 or eight weeks, which was the timeline from the start, so I’m just going to approach it day by day.
“Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.”
That’s also the approach taken by Staal, who joined in full-scale activity while still attempting to acclimate himself to the blurred vision that has been the consequence of being hit just above the right eye with a deflected shot on March 5.
“It’s not a 100-percent kind of thing,” Staal said, “but I have to get to the point where I’m confident and comfortable that I can play my game and not put myself in a position where I’m physically vulnerable because I’m not reacting quickly enough to the speed of the game around me.
“Some days have been better than others.”
Staal, who missed the final 27 games of the season, has not reached a decision about his availability for this round.
“I don’t want to go down that road yet,” Staal said when asked if he would be able to play against the Caps. “I haven’t made a decision one way or the other. I think it’s going to go day by day.
“If I feel good enough to go, then I’ll go. I haven’t written myself off.”