Zibanejad Progressing in Recovery from Fibula Break

The first "big" step in Mika Zibanejad's recovery from a broken fibula has passed, though the center said he's still just at the midway point to where he can rejoin the Rangers.
The walking boot and crutches are no more for Zibanejad, who was on the ice Thursday shooting pucks, albeit with no skates or equipment on.
"It's always nice when you progress in your recovery, but still only halfway there," Zibanejad told reporters after practice. "Now the rest of it is ahead of me. I'm just excited for every step that goes by."
Zibanejad broke his fibula back on Nov. 20 in overtime against the Florida Panthers at Madison Square Garden. He has five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 19 games during his first year in New York.
The Rangers are 10-6-1 -including the game against Florida - since losing Zibanejad; they were 13-5-0 at the time of his injury. He said it's been difficult to watch the team play well and not be a part of their success.
"It's frustrating to watch hockey when you can't be a part of it and when you can't do a thing about it," Zibanejad said. "Now the team has been doing well anyways, but you want to be out there and help the team as much as you can and when you don't get to do that and the opportunity is taken away from you, it sucks."
Zibanejad, who was expected to miss six-to-eight weeks with the injury, said he has looked at the team's schedule for possible return dates, but would not share his findings with reporters.
With that said, he added recovery can both speed up or slow down as rehab progresses. For now, he's just pleased that the rehab is moving in the right direction.
"You never know how fast it's going to happen or if it's going to be any slower or what not," Zibanejad said. "I can't really give a timetable. It's' been four weeks, that's all I can say. It's heading towards the right direction at least. From now now on, I'm not sure what's going to happen, what the next step is. I'm just happy to be out of the crutches and boot."
\\\\\\

Defenseman Adam Clendening could be in the lineup Friday against the Minnesota Wild at The Garden, as the blueliner rotated into line rushes and was on the team's second power play unit Thursday in practice.
Head coach Alain Vigneault said he was exploring his options and would know more after watching Minnesota's game tonight against the Montreal Canadiens.
"I haven't made up my mind," Vigneault answered when asked if Clendening would play. "On D, we've got one extra and we hadn't had a practice where we could work on our power play. I wanted to give [Clendening] a good look and check Minnesota's game tonight."
Vignealt said that while Clendening hasn't played much this season with just eight appearances, he must stay ready for whenever that time comes.
"We've talked to him a couple times," Vigneault said of Clendening. "He obviously wants to play but I think his attitude - he's worked real hard in practice. He's got to stay ready and when he gets the tap to play, he's got to come in and perform well. I don't know when that tap is going to be exactly, but when it does, I hope he comes in and plays well for us."