McDonagh âhoping forâ Friday return but must pass 1 more test
McDonagh
Once  Ryan McDonagh  realized  his  play on the ice was being compromised by the muscle strain in  his  abdomen  and once the doctors realized it was getting worse and negatively affecting other parts of  his  body  the Rangers defenseman finally shut it down.
But  the captain  is inching closer to a return  as  he  skated on  his  own Monday and took part in the morning skate Tuesday before sitting out  his  fourth consecutive game  a 5-4 loss to the Panthers at the Garden.
âStarting to feel stronger on the ice and do the things I need to do â  McDonagh  said. âBeen a while there  we were trying to work through it  and it started to get worse and affect some other things. Just try to be smart here with the time we have at this point in the season.â
The schedule had been spread out enough that there wasnât an immediate rush â nor is there one now â to get  McDonagh  back on the ice.
Though he said a return for Friday nightâs Garden match against the Hurricanes was âwhat Iâm hoping for â coach Alain Vigneault said heâd first like to see how  McDonagh  reacts to a full practice Thursday.
âI think a couple more practice days â Vigneault said  âand  he  should be on pace for a full recovery.â
 McDonagh  played through the injury for weeks  struggling to regain  his  previous high level and often necessitating âmaintenance daysâ off from practice. But following a 3-0 win over the Senators on Nov. 19   he  knew it was only getting worse. And  he  knew  his  individual play was suffering.
âAt times it felt like youâre not able to shoot as well and be as explosive â  McDonagh  said. âSkating  I always talk about  as being a big strength of mine. Not having quite the same explosive step  first couple steps  you start thinking and compensating  trying to play around it. Thatâs not going to help anything. In that aspect  it was time to do something about it.â
Once   [TGT] realized   [TGT]   play on the ice was being compromised by the muscle strain in   [TGT]   abdomen  and once the doctors realized it was getting worse and negatively affecting other parts of   [TGT]   body  the Rangers defenseman finally shut it down.
But  the captain  is inching closer to a return  as  he  skated on  his  own Monday and took part in the morning skate Tuesday before sitting out  his  fourth consecutive game  a 5-4 loss to the Panthers at the Garden.
âStarting to feel stronger on the ice and do the things I need to do â   [TGT] said. âBeen a while there  we were trying to work through it  and it started to get worse and affect some other things. Just try to be smart here with the time we have at this point in the season.â
The schedule had been spread out enough that there wasnât an immediate rush â nor is there one now â to get   [TGT] 
Though  [TGT]  said a return for Friday nightâs Garden match against the Hurricanes was âwhat Iâm hoping for â coach Alain Vigneault said heâd first like to see how   [TGT] reacts to a full practice Thursday.
âI think a couple more practice days â Vigneault said  âand  he  should be on pace for a full recovery.â
  [TGT] played through the injury for weeks  struggling to regain   [TGT]   previous high level and often necessitating âmaintenance daysâ off from practice. But following a 3-0 win over the Senators on Nov. 19   he  knew it was only getting worse. And  he  knew  his  individual play was suffering.
âAt times it felt like youâre not able to shoot as well and be as explosive â   [TGT] said. âSkating  I always talk about  as being a big strength of mine. Not having quite the same explosive step  first couple steps  you start thinking and compensating  trying to play around it. Thatâs not going to help anything. In that aspect  it was time to do something about it.â