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NEW YORK — The Rangers could be getting two pivotal players back.
Per Mollie Walker, Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba were both skating Tuesday morning in the Rangers’ optional skate. Neither had a no-contact jersey on, which doubles up on the good news.
But there is still no timetable for either.
For Trouba, it marks practice for the Rangers defensemen since suffering a lower-body injury on March 4. Lindgren participated in an optional skate on Monday, as well.
The Rangers’ backend has been dealing with an injury bug recently, with Trouba, Lindgren, and Erik Gustafsson all out of the lineup.
Chad Ruhwedel, a 12-year veteran acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins, has filled in admirably over the last two weeks.
“The guys that have come into the lineup have played really well,” Rangers HC Peter Laviolette said on Monday. “You see Ruhwedel jump in there and [he’s] done really well for a few games for us now. Jones has been rock solid for a long time now for us, playing extremely well with a lot of confidence.
“Guys moving up the lineup, taking on more minutes, more responsibility, they’ve done an excellent job. And we’ve done it against some pretty high-end caliber opponents, which is also impressive. We need that. We’ve got guys that are out, we have to have guys to step in and fill those minutes and do the job, and they have.”
With the Stanley Cup playoffs right around the corner, New York hopes to get back three key pieces to their backend sooner rather than later.
They’ll battle the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
