SEATTLE — Nick Bonino missed practice on Monday due to an undisclosed illness, according to the Rangers.
Head coach Peter Laviolette said it was too early to say whether Bonino would be good to go Tuesday night against the Flames in Calgary, noting that the training staff would see how the fourth-line center feels in the morning.
“He’s a little bit under the weather,” Laviolette said.
As a result of Bonino’s absence from practice, the lines were a little jumbled.
If Bonino is unable to play, Barclay Goodrow would probably slot into the fourth-line center spot with Jimmy Vesey on the left and Tyler Pitlick on the right.
Last week, Bonino missed a practice due to an unidentified lower-body injury, but the 35-year-old didn’t miss a game.
Bonino, who signed a one-year, $800,000 deal with the Rangers in July, has been particularly strong on faceoffs and on the penalty kill.
With a 61.5 faceoff win percentage through the first five games of the season, Bonino currently leads the Rangers.
He’s taken a majority of his draws in the defensive zone.
Bonino also leads all Rangers forwards in average shorthanded ice time with 1:48 per game.
All 32 NHL teams will be in action on Tuesday with staggered starts, which is why the Blueshirts are slated to play at 7:45 p.m. MDT/9:45 p.m. ET.
The Rangers’ rank second in the NHL with a 55.7 faceoff percentage, behind only Montreal’s 59.5.
They have been over 50 percent in draws in all but one game this season, when they posted a 45.8 percentage against the Coyotes.
According to NHL Edge, which is the league’s new puck and player tracking statistics site, the Rangers have spent the second-most percentage of time in the offensive zone so far this season with a 44.5 percent clip.
They’ve also logged the lowest ice time in the defensive zone at 37.8 percent.
The Rangers have also allowed the fewest shots per game in the NHL at 23.8.
The club’s AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, became the ninth team in league history to win 1,000 games as a franchise.
The Wolf Pack is off to a 4-0-0 start, their best since the 2004-05 season.
Since the 2021-22 season, Igor Shesterkin leads the NHL with 75 wins, ranks third in save percentage (.924) and second in goals-against average (2.31).
With the games so spread out as the Rangers venture out to Western Canada, expect Shesterkin to play a majority — if not all — of the next four contests.
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