Rangers' Ryan Lindgren, Alexandar Georgiev placed in COVID protocols

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — The Rangers returned to practice Sunday after their extended Christmas break, and after testing the players before practice, they announced that defenseman Ryan Lindgren and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev had joined defenseman Patrik Nemeth in COVID-19 protocols.

The Rangers still have enough to dress a complete lineup, and Ryan Strome said he just wants to get on with it.

"We want to play games,’’ he said. "We’re a good team this year. We want to keep what we’ve got going.’’

The Rangers are 19-7-4, good enough for third in the Metropolitan Division.

Their last game before the break was postponed by the NHL, and the league announced Friday that it would delay its return from the break until at least Tuesday.

All games that had been scheduled for Monday were postponed, including the Rangers’ game against the Red Wings at the Garden.

The Rangers’ last game was Dec. 17, a 3-2 shootout loss to Vegas. Their next game currently is set for Wednesday against the Panthers in Sunrise, Florida. If that game is played, the Rangers will have gone 12 days between games. But the Panthers had seven players in COVID protocol at the beginning of the break and added another four to the list on Sunday.

With Lindgren and Nemeth in protocols, the Rangers had six defensemen available for practice Sunday: Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba, K’Andre Miller, Libor Hajek, Nils Lundkvist and Jarred Tinordi, who returned after his two-week conditioning assignment with AHL Hartford.

With Georgiev unable to practice, equipment manager Tim Webb put on Henrik Lundqvist’s old goalie pads and occupied the net at one end of the ice. With Igor Shesterkin late getting on the ice, as he was delayed in finishing his testing, the Rangers started practice using a cutout of a goaltender in the net at the other end. "It’s the first time I’ve ever done that, that’s for sure,’’ Strome said.

Strome and Trouba serve as the Rangers’ player representatives to the NHL Players’ Association, and Strome advocated for the NHL to change some of its protocols to allow players who have COVID-19 but are asymptomatic to be able to play games. Strome had COVID-19 in October and missed four games.

"The NBA and the NFL are playing,’’ he said. "We have a little bit of an issue at the [Canadian] border. We have more Canadian teams than those other leagues, which is unique. But . . . I’m sitting at home at Christmas watching the NBA playing at Madison Square Garden. It’s kind of weird to me.

"It just seems that guys that don’t have symptoms, to me, [in] the other leagues, are allowed to play,’’ he said, referring to the NFL’s announcement two weeks ago that fully vaccinated players no longer will be tested weekly and will be tested only if experiencing symptoms.

"I feel like that’s probably where we’re headed,’’ Strome said. "And that probably makes the most sense to my mind.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.