The puck came to the corner and Noah Laba charged hard, fighting along the boards for possession.
It’s probably safe to say that the rookie won’t be sporting the red noncontact jersey much longer.
Laba, who exited during the second period of Saturday’s loss in Pittsburgh with what appeared to be a potentially serious upper-body injury, was labeled “day to day” by head coach Mike Sullivan on Monday, but the center’s first practice back signaled he could be ready to return for Thursday’s home game against the Hurricanes.
“He obviously participated today as close to full contact as you can,” Sullivan said.
Laba, who missed three games earlier this month with an upper-body injury, was shaken up after being slammed into the boards Saturday, and favoring his shoulder, forcing his removal from the game after the 22-year-old tried to skate it off during a TV timeout.
The injury was invisible Monday, providing a break to a team that has shifted its focus to the growth of its young talent. Laba, who left his first training camp as the third-line center after beating out Juuso Parssinen, has shown exciting potential in his debut season.
The former fourth-round pick has six goals and 10 assists in 53 games this season, recording three points in his past six games.
No team is in more desperate need of a break.
Entering Monday, no team had played more games — and no team in the East had lost more games — than the Rangers (22-28-6), who are 3-12-2 since Christmas, and most recently started a three-game losing streak over a four-day span.
But following a day off Sunday, the Rangers now have their longest gap of the season between games, allowing three consecutive days of practice heading into the final contest before the Olympic break.
“The condensed schedule this year has been a challenge,” Sullivan said. “We just went through a stretch where we played four games in six nights and it’s almost like I could say that every week … We’ve built a game plan here over the next three days. We thought about it well in advance … Today was the first day with some of the skill stuff we did. We’ll do something a little different tomorrow. We’ll try and get certain guys reps and touches and skill development in certain aspects. We’re gonna work on our team game. We’re also gonna try and get rest and recovery with some of the guys that we’re leaning on with heavy minutes.
“We’re gonna try and maximize this opportunity that we have and we’ll see where that takes us.”
Adam Fox and Conor Sheary both practiced in noncontact jerseys Monday.