MONTREAL — Discretion was indeed the better part of valor Saturday night for the Rangers and coach Alain Vigneault, who chose to hold Ryan McDonagh out of the essentially meaningless season finale against the Canadiens, even though all concerned insisted the defenseman’s left shoulder was healthy enough to permit him to play.
But when the Blueshirts meet the Flyers — who secured third place in the Metropolitan Division with an overtime victory in Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon — in Game 1 of the playoffs on Thursday at the Garden, the club MVP should be unencumbered.
“I told them I’m ready to go,” McDonagh, who has been sidelined since the shoulder was plastered against the glass by Alexandre Burrows in the final minute of the Apr. 1 match in Vancouver, said before his team’s 1-0 overtime defeat to the Habs. “[But] it’s [the coach’s] decision and he felt it would be better to just give it one more day of rest here.
“Then we’ll have three days of practice that will be good enough to prepare it for the games that are really important.”
McDonagh, who said he has full range of motion in the shoulder, participated in the morning skate that did not include contact drills. He partnered with usual mate Dan Girardi, who was a healthy scratch for the first time in his NHL career and therefore missed his first game of the season and only the fifth of a possible 574 since joining the Rangers in January 2007.
“Mac is 100 percent but I didn’t see the necessity of playing him,” said Vigneault, who also scratched a healthy Martin St. Louis. “At the end of the day, it’s our last regular-season game and it’s not going to change anything for us.
“I talked to Dan this morning. I told him my decision. He’s played 81 games, this would have been 82, but the playoffs are more important,” the coach said. “It’s my call. It’s the way it is.”
McDonagh did not take any slap shots during the skate, instead wristing shots from 50 feet. The team MVP and Players’ Player as voted by the media and his peers, respectively (and respectfully), said he has full range of motion and is able to shoot but did not do so because of the pain that is still associated with winding up. He said he does not anticipate that being a concern on Thursday.
“I feel really good. It’s amazing, the last two days I’ve been able to get my shot back even harder,” No. 27 said. “Passing and skating is no issue.
“I’m getting full strength and full game speed back, which will be good for next week.”
Justin Falk, who replaced Girardi, played his first game of the calendar year. The club’s eighth defenseman, who refused a conditioning assignment to the AHL Wolf Pack immediately following the Olympics, had not played in a game since Dec. 29, and registered one shot, two hits and three blocks in 10:36 of ice time. …Dan Carcillo replaced St. Louis, who finished the regular season with one goal — shorthanded — and seven assists in 19 games as a Ranger.