The phrase Alain Vigneault used superstitiously was “touch wood.”
“We’ve been — touch wood — fairly healthy up front,” the Rangers coach said Wednesday morning in Ottawa, “other than Mika in the middle.”
No, “Mika in the Middle” is not the name of a new sitcom, but there is drama as the Rangers deal with the absence of top-line center Mika Zibanejad, whose delayed onset of concussion symptoms forced him to miss a seventh straight game in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to the Senators. Vigneault cancelled a scheduled practice for Thursday in New York and Zibanejad skated on his own, something he has been doing for about a week.