Practice Notes 2/16:

@RNYRF STAFF REPORT

McDonagh skates with team in Regular Jersey. Boyle out with flu.

The Rangers lines at practice were:
Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello
JT Miller, Derick Brassard, Jesper Fast
Oscar Lindberg, Kevin Hayes, Viktor Stalberg
Tanner Glass, Dominic Moore, Daniel Paille

 McDonagh Feels Ready to Play Wednesday

Ryan McDonagh skated Tuesday in a contact jersey and ruled himself ready to go Wednesday night when the Rangers host the Chicago Blackhawks. Now, it's up the coach.
"I feel pretty good out there," said McDonagh, who has missed the last three games after sustaining a concussion Feb. 6 in Philadelphia when Wayne Simmonds punched him. "Really not even thinking about [the injury] anymore, and that's the biggest thing for me. Just focusing on the way I need to play and having fun out there."
Alain Vigneault said he'd need to wait until tomorrow morning to officially rule his captain back into the lineup.
"Everything that I've seen so far, he looks fine," Vigneault said after practice. "So we'll see how he responds. Today was his first contact day. If he's alright tomorrow come opotional tomorrow morning, there's a good chance I'll put him in the lineup tomorrow night."
Vigneault said he felt McDonagh was playing his best hockey of the season prior to the injury 10 days ago, when McDonagh had nine points in his last 13 games.
"There's no doubt he's our best two-way defenseman," Vigneault said of his captain. "[He's] such a good skater and just before he got hurt, I would say in the last three weeks to a month there, we were seeing the Ryan McDonagh that we were talking about before, talking about a Norris [Trophy] candidate. That's how good he was playing at both ends of the rink."
McDonagh said he felt like a fan the last couple of games, especially on Sunday night against the Flyers when rookie Dylan McIlrath dropped the gloves with Simmonds. McDonagh said he's spoken with McIlrath about the fight and praised the youngester's team-first attitude.
"That's a big moment for him just showing how much the team means to him," McDonagh said of McIlrath. "Everyone goes through growth spurts and growing as a player, and this is his first time with a team for the full season. He gets it right away and he understands the goal in mind in helping one another. You're playing for more than just yourself, and that's hard to understand at a young age when you're trying to make an impact and a name for yourself, but he really puts the guys and everybody besides himself first and that's a great sign."
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McDonagh isn't the only question mark on defense for the Rangers tomorrow. Dan Boyle missed practice with the flu, and Marc Staal and his wife are expecting a child tomorrow, making No. 18 a possible game-time decision.
Vigneault said as of right now, there were no plans to make a call up from Hartford, but that that could obviously change depending on each situation.
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Henrik Lundqvist will get the start in net Wednesday against the Blackhawks. Vigneault said his team's best effort will be needed against the defending champions, who come into Madison Square Garden coming off a 7-2 victory over Toronto Monday night.
"I think our total focus has to be on [Chicago]," Vigneault said. "It's going to take our best game as a group tomorrow night and I want our guys to be focused on that game alone."
By Matt Calamia