Rick Nash returns to Rangers practice after missing two games with sore back
New York Rangers left wing Rick Nash skates with the puck against the Calgary Flames during an NHL game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
After missing both games on the western trip with a sore back, Rangers forward Rick Nash expects to return Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden.
Nash, who injured his back during a shooting drill at practice in Denver on Thursday, skated for the first time Monday and felt much better.
"When I spoke to him on the ice," coach Alain Vigneault said, "he said he's good to go."
After practice, Nash seemed satisfied with the skate. "Everything felt good," he said. "Each day it got better. From when it happened, each day there was progress. We did double treatments every day, so it was probably a combination of both [treatment and rest]. If everything goes good tonight, I plan on playing."
Nash skated on his usual line, with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello, and was on the first power-play unit during drills at the team's training center. He did not appear to have any restrictions skating or shooting, beating Henrik Lundqvist on wrist shots several times, and he stayed on the ice a little longer than most of his teammates.
"Did he look back to normal?" Brassard said, repeating a writer's question. "Well, yeah, but normal is the wrong word. He's a superstar, one of the best players in the league."
Before the injury, Nash played well, creating scoring opportunities five-on-five, on the power play and shorthanded, but he hasn't been rewarded with goals. He has one goal and five assists.
"You can't only assess players on scoring," Zuccarello said. "I've probably scored more goals than I should have at this time."
Brassard believes the shots will start going in for Nash. Last season, Brassard said, "he set the bar pretty high. Scoring 41 goals in this league nowadays is pretty amazing."
Whether Emerson Etem -- who played in Nash's place for the wins in Denver and Phoenix that raised their record to 10-2-2 -- will play, and where, is undecided. Etem rotated in and out of the fourth line in practice.
"Nasher looks like he's going to play," said Vigneault, whose club has won five straight, "so we've got to sort out the rest of our lineup."
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