MONTREAL — Ryan Lindgren made his season debut on Tuesday against the Canadiens after undergoing jaw surgery during his time on injured reserve.
“I was obviously really excited to be back, be back playing with the guys again,” Lindgren said after the Rangers cruised to a 7-2 win at Bell Centre. “Just real happy to be back playing. I thought it was a real good game by us, a good team win. A good way to finish off the road trip.”
The Rangers activated Lindgren off injured reserve ahead of their third and final game of the three-game swing up north, after the 26-year-old defenseman missed two more contests than his minimum weeklong stint on the sidelines required.
Lindgren confirmed he suffered a jaw injury in a fight with Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield in the Blueshirts second exhibition game of the preseason on Sept. 24.
Catching a couple of uppercuts, Lindgren has been wearing a full face shield ever since he returned to the ice for practice.
“I ended up getting surgery on it,” he said. “I’ve been skating for a while now, skating with the bubble obviously. Just kind of getting used to that. It feels good now.”
Despite Lindgren’s return, the Rangers’ top-four defense pairings remained intact.
Adam Fox stayed with K’Andre Miller, while Braden Schneider continued to skate on the left of captain Jacob Trouba.
Lindgren lined up next to Victor Mancini, who has played in all six Rangers games to start the season.
“He’s a heart-and-soul guy,” Laviolette said of Lindgren, who signed a one-year, $4.5 million deal this past offseason to remain with the Rangers. “He plays hard every single shift, every game. He gives everything he has. You remove a guy like that from the lineup and you feel it. It’ll be nice to get him back in there.
“First one back after being gone for a bit, but his impact will be felt and he’ll continue to get better the more he plays.”
With Lindgren’s return, Chad Ruhwedel was bumped from the lineup after making his season debut on Saturday in Toronto.
In 14:04 of ice time against the Maple Leafs, Ruhwedel recorded two hits and four blocks.
Zac Jones, who played in the first four games, was a healthy scratch for the second straight contest.
Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves on 23 shots in the Rangers victory, which counted as his fifth start to the season.
With a secondary assist on Mika Zibanejad’s first-period goal, Artemi Panarin extended his season-opening point streak to six games.