Zibanejad Joins Rangers for Morning Skate

Forward Mika Zibanejad skated with his teammates for the first time on Monday as he continues to go through concussion protocol following a hit late last month that will keep him out of his sixth straight game tonight when the Rangers host the Stars.
"It's good to be back with the guys again and see faces out there," said Zibanejad, who had been skating on his own since last week. "It's always positive."
Zibanejad said he's continuing to following the plan set out for him from doctors and the team's training staff and is taking things "day-by-day for now and go from there."

The hope is that Zibanejad feels OK throughout the remainder of Monday in order to get cleared for contact and take part in practice on Tuesday. If that happens, he could be back in the lineup for Wednesday against the Senators.
With that said, Zibanejad is not putting a timetable on his return but rather seeing how he feels following each step he takes in his recovery.
"We'll see how I feel today," he said. "Can't look ahead too much in a situation like this. It felt good being out there again and we'll see how the rest of the day goes and what else we're doing today and we'll go from there."
Coach Alain Vigneault said Zibanejad would need at least one practice before getting back into the lineup. That does not include today's morning skate, which the bench boss does not consider a true practice.
Zibanejad said despite missing the last five games, his conditioning isn't as bad as some would think.
"It's not too, too bad," he said. "I need a few practices to get it back, but I think I've been pretty active still and feel - obviously - different when you can do stuff, at least a little bit every day. I just need some more time on the ice [and] we should be good to go."