Practice Report: Rangers Captain Ryan McDonagh Out with Abdominal Strain

Patrick E. McCarthy

New York Rangers Captain and top defenseman Ryan McDonagh will miss tomorrow’s game versus Carolina with an abdominal strain. Reports came out of practice about this today from Steve Zipay of Newsday.

https://twitter.com/stevezipay/status/933017470994206722

It appears as though this has been a lingering issue and if you add in the maintenance days he’s had recently, I would speculate it’s been bothering him for some time now. And while it hasn’t affected his play too much, the pain may have gotten to a point where the organization wants to take a closer look at the situation before putting him back out on the ice.

https://twitter.com/stevezipay/status/933038284028239873

This is clearly a wait and see scenario and we’ll do our best to keep you updated as it goes on. As for what it means in the short term, in an effort to keep the Skjei and Shattenkirk pairing together, Vigneault had Smith taking reps in practice with Holden, while Kampfer took Smith’s spot on the third pairing alongside Marc Staal.

Additional Practice Notes

  • Henrik Lundqvist will be starting his tenth consecutive game in Raleigh on Wednesday. (Zipay)
  • Mixed reports on whether or not Desharnais will be taking Carey’s place in the lineup. If Desharnais does return, it is unclear whether or not he will play center or wing. (Tasch/Zipay)
  • The Rangers spent a good amount of time working on their PP, which has not scored in their last nine extra-man opportunities. (Zipay)
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