GREENBURGH, N.Y. — When the Rangers return from their “bye’’ week Friday night at Madison Square Garden against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they will be bolstered by the return by forwards Rick Nash and Pavel Buchnevich, who will both be back after missing significant time with injuries.
“I would say, unless something happens from now till then, both those guys should be available to us,’’ Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said Thursday after the Rangers returned to practice for the first time since their 5-4 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets last Saturday.
Nash missed four games in early December with a groin strain, then came back in the middle of the month and played three games, only to suffer a second groin strain that would cost him eight more games.