Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said before the second-round series with Carolina began that he wouldn’t rule out forward Barclay Goodrow returning at some point during the series.
If he does, it’s going to have to be because the Rangers force a Game 7, because Gallant said Friday that he “doesn’t expect” Goodrow to play in Saturday’s Game 6.
"I'm not expecting them tomorrow, but I hopefully see it in the near future," Gallant said of Goodrow and Sammy Blais, who has resumed skating after suffering a torn ACL in November.
Earlier this week, Gallant said Goodrow, who hasn’t played since Game 1 of the first-round series against Pittsburgh, was “going in the right direction,” but it looks like he will miss a 12th straight game.
Goodrow was injured blocking a shot early in Game 1 of the Pittsburgh series, suffering what has been reported as a broken left ankle – although he played the remainder of that triple-OT loss while hurt.
The 29-year-old had 13 goals and 20 assists in his first season with the Rangers, and was a stabilizing veteran force in the bottom six.
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A return for either Game 7 or in a potential Eastern Conference Final series could be serendipitous, as he won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning the last two seasons – the same Lightning team that eliminated the Islanders in the final four each of those years, and awaits the winner of the Rangers-Hurricanes series after sweeping Florida in the other East semifinal.
If the Rangers force a Game 7, it would be Monday in Raleigh, and the Eastern Conference final is set to begin on Wednesday night.
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