Carson Soucy was activated off injured reserve ahead of the Rangers matchup with the Wild on Monday night, but head coach Mike Sullivan did not go back to the defensive formation he started the season with.
While Soucy slotted right back in, Sullivan opted to keep Matthew Robertson in the top six after the Rangers rookie impressed in the four games he played in relief.
That edged Urho Vaakanainen out of the lineup, making the 26-year-old defenseman a healthy scratch for the first time this season.
“Those decisions are always difficult,” Sullivan said before the Rangers lost 3-1 to Minnesota at Madison Square Garden. “We have so much respect for every player on the team, what they bring to help us become a team. So we don’t take those decisions lightly. Ultimately, it’s my responsibility to try to make the best decision for the team from a roster standpoint and a lineup standpoint. But those decisions are always tough.”
Soucy missed the previous four games with an upper-body injury he sustained in the second period of the Rangers game in Pittsburgh on Oct. 11.
It was a rather scary play, in which the 31-year-old blueliner went face first into the boards while attempting a hit on Penguins wing Rickard Rakell. He was back on the ice in a red noncontact jersey pretty quickly, but the Rangers put him on injured reserve to give him ample time to heal.
“It looked worse than it was,” Soucy said. “It also didn’t feel great at the time, little more just shock when it happened. And then obviously a little stiff next couple days, but been feeling good. Skates have been feeling good coming back, just trying to get back ready to play.
“Just the look of it when you go in like that, the spotters and everything are gonna — that’s an easy one to see. IR, you want to come back, you want to feel good, you want to be full strength. So I think it was just kind of smart all the way around.”
After skating next to Will Borgen through the first three games, Soucy lined up next to Braden Schneider on the third pairing Monday night against Minnesota. Robertson evidently showed enough to remain alongside Borgen as the second defensive pair behind Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov.
Vincent Trocheck, who is on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury, has yet to resume skating, according to Sullivan. The 32-year-old center is not eligible to return until Nov. 1 at the earliest.
“He was here today,” Sullivan said Monday at MSG Training Center. “He’s doing very well. He’s progressing, and when he gets to that next level we’ll let you know.”
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 of the 31 shots he saw in his fourth loss of the season.
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