Jesper Fast, sidelined since sustaining a sprained knee in Nashville on Feb. 7, could rejoin the Rangers as soon as Thursday for their match against the Coyotes at the Garden.
Fast participated in Sunday's morning skate at the club's practice rink wearing a non-contact jersey in advance of missing his eighth straight game hours later, the Rangers' 4-3 shootout victory over the Blue Jackets. The 23-year-old skated on his own on Saturday, marking the first time he had been on the ice since the injury.
"The training staff has been really happy with the progress he has made over the last week," coach Alain Vigneault said. "I would assume in the next couple of days he would be able to practice fully with the group."
The Rangers are at home Tuesday to the Flames, but it would be a stretch to envision a return that night for Fast, who had become a bottom-six staple and a regular on the club's third penalty-kill unit.
Henrik Lundqvist skated again on his own before the team took the ice Sunday, but there is no update on the four-to-six week timetable for The King's return from the vascular injury he suffered by taking a shot to the throat on Jan. 31. The club said Lundqvist is not due for a medical exam this week. Lundqvist said at his Feb. 8 press conference he would be reevaluated in three weeks.
Vigneault's rotation at the sixth defense spot continued on Sunday, with John Moore replacing Matt Hunwick against the Jackets. Starting Feb. 8, Moore has played every other game.
The coach acknowledged this rotation is likely making it difficult for either defenseman to get on a roll, but again said that both "are about the same … both are playing well.
"There will come some point where one guy is playing a little bit better than the other and I will stick with him, but that point has not yet come," Vigneault said before invoking the specter of the March 2 trade deadline.
"There are still a couple of days before the trade deadline," he said. "And we're looking at all options."
The Post has reported the Blueshirts' interest in Andrej Sekera, the Hurricanes' hot commodity on the blue line, but whose cost may be prohibitive.
Dan Boyle got back on the power-play unit in overtime on Sunday, but Vigneault was asked why he did not use the right-handed Boyle at the point on the Blueshirts' five-on-three first period power play in Buffalo on Friday night, when righty Derek Stepan was unavailable while receiving stitches to close a head wound he'd sustained minutes earlier.
The Blueshirts instead went with an all-lefty lineup for the 1:45 two-man advantage when Vigneault chose Marty St. Louis to join Rick Nash, Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello and point-man Ryan McDonagh.
"We had worked with that group before with Marty on it," the coach said. "[Brassard] and [Zuccarello] are two guys I don't mind going up top. … It was one of those things. It was a quick decision."
Mackenzie Skapski got a loud ovation in the first period when he was shown on the scoreboard. Skapski made 24 saves in his NHL debut in a 3-1 win in Buffalo on Friday.
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