The New York Rangers are in desperate need of a spark and perhaps a return from Pavel Buchnevich can do just that.
Pavel Buchnevich is nearing a return for the New York Rangers and the hope is that he can return to the lineup as early as Saturday night.
Buchnevich said he’s hopeful he can play Saturday. DQ said all the guys are possible, but conceded McQuaid is probably a longer shot than the others.
— Colin Stephenson (@ColinASteph) December 4, 2018
Buchnevich has been out since Nov. 12 with a broken thumb, an unfortunate injury considering he had just started to find his groove offensively. In his absence, New York has posted a 4-5-1 record scoring 28 goals in that span.
On the season the 23-year-old has nine points, five goals, and four assists. Five of those points have come in his last five games including a two-point showing in a Nov. 10 matchup against Columbus.
A return for Buchnevich would be huge to this Rangers lineup considering how the injury bug has hurt them the last month or so. Along with Buchnevich, Mats Zuccarello, Adam McQuaid, and Vladislav Namestnikov have missed time which has really hurt the team.
Buchnevich will slot right back into the Rangers top-six and hopefully provide a spark which has been missing over the week. New York has seen some poor performances in their last three games and his return could be a morale booster.
The hope is that along with Buchnevich, that Namestnikov and Zuccarello also return the Blueshirts’ lineup when they take on Florida after returning from a rare five-day hiatus. During the break, head coach David Quinn has held some intensive practices which have seen the injured Rangers make a return to the ice.
For McQuaid, he still has some time to go before returning to the Rangers lineup for the first time since Oct 25. Once he returns, Quinn will have some decisions to make considering he will have eight healthy defensemen for the first time in a month.
