Rangers' Callahan to return against Ducks

NEW YORK -- New York Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said he has been cleared to play and will be in the lineup Monday against the Anaheim Ducks (7:30 p.m., NBCSN, TSN2, RDS).

Callahan has not played since breaking his thumb blocking a shot in a 2-0 win against the Washington Capitals on Oct. 16.

"It is 100 percent. It feels good," Callahan said. "The last couple of days of shooting have gone well. It has reacted well. Wednesday is three weeks [since the injury] and that is what we were aiming at. It's ready to go."

Callahan not only will return to a resurgent team that went 4-3-0 in his absence while only allowing 13 goals, he also will be playing his first home game since Madison Square Garden completed the final phase of a three-year, $1 billion renovation.

Since starting the season 2-6-0 and wading through a lengthy nine-game road trip that was necessitated by the overhaul of MSG, New York has gone 4-1-0 to climb to fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. Now having their captain hopefully will allow the team to continue that ascent.

"Obviously it's very exciting," defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "He was just starting to feel his game out before the injury. I'm sure he's seen what we've been doing here the last week or so as far as how we've been playing. He wants to get in there and help us even more. He should add another element to our lineup that makes us even tougher to play against."

Callahan missed the beginning of the season following off-season shoulder surgery and was playing in his fifth game when he broke the thumb. He has three goals in those five games, with two of them coming on the power play.