TORONTO — A year ago, Brendan Smith’s season was over already, ended by a broken hand suffered punching a teammate in a fight in practice at Hartford (AHL). These days, he is shuttling back and forth between forward and defense for the Rangers, but whatever position he is in, he is playing well enough that coach David Quinn feels the need to have him in the lineup.
Entering Saturday night’s game against Toronto, Smith had played in 24 of the previous 25 games, including 13 in a row. And he scored his third goal of the season (in 55 games) and first as a forward in the Rangers’ last game, Tuesday against Detroit.