Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren not about to change his rugged style
Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren skates against the Hurricanes in the first period of an NHL game at Madison Square Garden on March 21. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
GREENBURGH — When you play hockey the way Ryan Lindgren does – physical, chippy, and without any regard for your body – you’re going to get bruised and banged up. A lot.
But the Rangers defenseman isn’t about to change the way he plays.
“Yeah, it's obviously something I don't want to happen – I don't want to get banged up,’’ Lindgren said after the Rangers returned to practice Wednesday, following Tuesday’s day off. “But yeah, I mean, it's a physical game. I like being physical, and you do whatever you can to help the team, whether that's [take] a shot, or make a hit. And you just try to help out as much as you can.’’
Lindgren helps out a lot. According to the website StatMuse, the Rangers’ record when he is in the lineup is 150-82-27. The team’s record without him in the lineup, since his NHL debut midway through the 2017-18 season, is 29-32-10.
They are 2-0 this season in games when Lindgren plays, and 0-1 without him, losing 5-3 last Saturday in Columbus when he was a last-minute scratch with an upper-body injury. In his return to the lineup Monday in the home opener against Arizona, Lindgren led the Rangers in ice time with 23 minutes and 53 seconds. He also was involved in two scrums. One came after his high, open-ice hit on Arizona forward Jack McBain, and the other came after the final horn sounded in the Rangers’ 2-1 victory.
“There's point-five [seconds] left on the clock’’ before the final faceoff, Lindgren said of the second scrum. “Obviously, they're going to try to get to the net, they're going to try to throw everything at the net. So our job there is just not let them get to the net. And so, then you're trying to ‘box out,’ and they didn't like that we were boxing them out. And then things kind of snowballed from there.’’
“Certain players play a game that leads them into the battle a little bit more, and he's one of those guys,’’ Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “But that's his style, and that's the way he plays. He's got that ‘hardness’ to him, as a physical, tough, defensive defenseman. And I'm certainly hoping he stays [healthy]. But he does play the game hard.’’
On rare occasions, Lindgren’s passion for the game causes him to cross the line, as he did when he took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in frustration after teammate Alexis Lafrenière was sent off for what seemed a questionable slashing call. Lindgren’s penalty meant the Rangers would have to face a 5-on-3 disadvantage for the full two minutes in a 1-1 game. They killed the penalties and that proved to be a pivotal point in the game.
"It was a selfish, stupid penalty by me,’’ Lindgren said Wednesday. “I let my emotions get the best of me there. That can't happen. That's a horrible penalty to take, to put us down 5-on-3. [Jacob Trouba] is out there blocking shots, [K’Andre Miller] did a great job [and] those guys get the kill. But it's just something that can't happen and won't happen again.’’
Blue notes
Fourth-line center Nick Bonino, who blocked three shots Monday, did not practice, due to what the Rangers called a lower-body injury. Laviolette said the team “is hoping he’s on the ice’’ Thursday for the game against Nashville.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
