Long Island's Shane Pinto gets chance to boost Olympic roster chances in front of Team USA coach Mike Sullivan but suffers injury

OTTAWA, Ontario — When his Senators hosted the Rangers on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre, Shane Pinto’s top priority was to win the game and help Ottawa maintain its spot in the top three positions in the Atlantic Division.

Unfortunately for the Franklin Square native, he didn’t get much of a chance to do that. He left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury after a collision with the Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad.

The injury probably damaged Pinto’s chance to make an impression on Rangers coach Mike Sullivan, who happens to be the coach for the U.S. Olympic team. Pinto, 25, is in the running for a spot on the Olympic squad.

Sullivan said before the game that he’d be watching the Ottawa centerman.

“That takes place the next day when I break the game film down,’’ he said when asked if it’s really possible to look at Olympic candidates on the other team while he’s trying to coach the Rangers. “[On video] I have the ability to watch both our teams, but I can also key in on our opponents. And I do that all the time.’’

The 6-3, 206-pound Pinto, who was the first pick in the second round of the 2019 draft (No. 32 overall) by the Senators, did go to the U.S. Orientation camp and is having a good season with 12 goals with six assists. He had a 53.8% faceoff win rate before Thursday’s game and Sullivan said he’s proving to be a strong defensive forward.

“I think he’s always been a very conscientious player defensively. He checks well [and] positionally he’s a very sound player,’’ Sullivan said. “One of the guys on my staff, [assistant coach] Ty Hennes, was on the staff for the World Championships in the Czech Republic, in Prague, when Shane was on that team . . . [U.S. team general manager] Billy Guerin and I went over to watch that team and [Pinto is] always in the right spots. There’s a lot of detail around his game away from the puck.

“I think what he’s shown this year is that there’s an offensive side to his game. And that’s, I think, a growth in his game. That’s exciting for him and for us as Americans.’’

If Pinto makes the team, there could be three Long Islanders on the roster.

Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (Jericho) currently is on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury but is expected to be healed in plenty of time to play. He is having a strong season and is considered a strong candidate to make the team.

Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (Long Beach), who happens to be Sullivan’s son-in-law, returned to practice Thursday after being hit in the face with a puck and undergoing facial surgery two weeks ago. He’s also considered a strong candidate for the team.

The most interesting thing about Pinto’s ability to make the team might be that he could be competing with a pair of Rangers — Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller — for a spot.

Trocheck, who missed 14 games early in the season with an upper-body injury, has had a good season to this point — five goals, seven assists in 14 games — and has won 52.6% of his faceoffs.

Miller, slowed by nagging injuries since training camp, came into Thursday with seven goals and seven assists in 26 games and a 58.7% faceoff win rate.

Asked about the Olympics on Thursday morning, Miller declined to discuss it.

“I don’t want there to be an assumption I’m on the team,’’ he said. “I’m worried about the Rangers, and that’s just a byproduct of however things go here.”

n  Smaller rink not ideal

Sullivan was asked his thoughts on reports that the main Olympic rink in Milan might be a little shy of NHL standards. Reports say the rink is being built to a length of 60 meters, which translates to just short of 197 feet. NHL rinks are 200 feet long.

“I hope that’s not the case,’’ Sullivan said. “I think the NHL rink is too small as it is. When you think in terms of the evolution of the game and the evolution of people, we’re playing on the same size ice surface that the players were playing on in the Fifties. And the guys playing today are bigger, stronger and faster than they’ve ever been. By nature of that, the playing surface gets smaller even though physically it hasn’t changed.”

n  Quick trip

Goalie Jonathan Quick made the trip but was not activated off IR. Spencer Martin served as Igor Shesterkin’s backup for the second straight game.

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.