Brennan Othmann performed his first sport of the season with the Rangers on Lengthy Island on Tuesday because the Blueshirts remained with out Chris Kreider for a second straight match.
Kreider was a late scratch on Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh with an upper-body damage, the most recent in an injury-plagued season.
After the 5-1 thrashing of the Islanders, although, the priority had shifted from Kreider to Adam Fox and Okay’Andre Miller, each of whom exited the sport with higher and lower-body accidents, respectively, and didn’t return.
“They’re being evaluated right now,” coach Peter Laviolette stated following a sport the Rangers completed with simply 4 defensemen — Braden Schneider additionally having suffered a scare after a blocked shot within the third interval, however returning.
Othmann, the Rangers’ 2021 first-round choose from Scarborough, Ontario missed a piece of time this season with an upper-body damage, however has performed at a stable tempo when wholesome within the AHL, notching 20 factors in 27 video games with the Wolf Pack.
He didn’t file some extent in three video games with the Rangers on the finish of final season, and his first was not forthcoming Tuesday, however the fourth line on which he performed with Jonny Brodzinski and Matt Rempe did account for 3 objectives.
He didn’t file some extent in three video games with the Rangers on the finish of final season.
The Islanders protection carousel continues to spin.
This time, it was Scott Mayfield who drew the quick straw and ended up as a wholesome scratch towards the Rangers, only one sport after getting back from damage, as Adam Boqvist got here again into the lineup.
“It was a tough one,” coach Patrick Roy stated. “Sometimes you have to make a decision. I had a good conversation with Scotty, we talked about the way we’d like to see him play. He hasn’t played a lot, so I think it’ll be good for him to go on the ice, practice. When the time comes, we’ll put him back in the lineup.”
It does, nevertheless, seem that the blue line may get extra crowded sooner slightly than later.
Although Noah Dobson wasn’t prepared to come back off LTIR on Tuesday, the Islanders moved Matt Martin onto injured reserve late Monday evening to open up a roster spot, indicating that might come quickly.
Mike Reilly was additionally a full-contact participant in morning skate Tuesday for the primary time since present process coronary heart surgical procedure following a concussion on Nov. 1 — a giant step in his eventual return, although Roy didn’t have a timeline.
“I think everyone wants to play every night, right?” Boqvist stated. “You gotta bring your A game every shift, every play you make and I think it’s healthy for the team, too. You know the D-men’s gonna play their asses off, hopefully that will lean into the rest of the team. Obviously you don’t want to lose your job or anything like that.”
Adam Fox didn’t skate Tuesday morning, with the Rangers citing private causes, however performed towards the Islanders.
