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OTTAWA — For new Rangers forward Luke Glendening, the start to this season has been a journey.
Needing a professional tryout to stick around the NHL for the second straight October, Glendening skated with the Lightning’s third group in training camp that mostly featured prospects and AHL-bound players.
The 37-year-old veteran of 934 games said skating with the youngsters was fun, noting that it “reinvigorated” him to see them experience their first NHL camps amid his 14th.
Glendening made it sound like the PTO with the Lightning was more of a favor. He had been working out in Tampa Bay all summer, and the organization knew he intended to continue playing in the NHL, so head coach Jon Cooper told him they had an extra spot.
When he was released at the end of September, the Michigan native continued training in the Sunshine State while he waited for his next opportunity.
“I went from playing dress-up and Barbies to playing in the National Hockey League,” Glendening said before making his Rangers debut in Saturday’s loss to the Senators, referring to the time spent with daughters Riggsy, 3, and Ada Grace, 1. “So it’s a wild ride.”
Saturday night’s matchup was really the first game in which Glendening was eligible to play.
The Blueshirts sent Justin Dowling, who filled in at fourth-line center the previous four games, back to Hartford after practice Friday. Glendening slotted into that spot Saturday after turning his midseason PTO into a one-year, $850,000 deal (league minimum) just before the Rangers game in Toronto on Thursday.
Glendening has now played for six teams over his NHL career.
“These guys have been rolling along pretty well,” he said. “I’m not a big piece, I’m just trying to fit in and do what I’m asked to do. I keep using this word, but it’s true: Every day in this league is a blessing, and I’m just so thankful for another one.”
Dylan Garand stopped 17 of 22 shots faced in his seventh consecutive start Saturday night.
“We’ve looked at the schedule, so we know where we’re at,” head coach Mike Sullivan said when asked Friday about the rookie goalie’s workload. “We’ve looked at the body of work. The number of games that he’s played. We look at what we have moving forward and we’re going to try to make decisions accordingly. We’re well aware of what his workload is and where he’s at.
“We talk with him daily, our coaching staff and in particular Jeff Malcolm, our goalie coach, who I think has a real good feel for Dylan and where he’s at. I speak to Dylan also as far as how he feels, and so we’re aware of what his workload is. Do we anticipate moving forward giving him some rest? Yes.”
Sullivan called Matthew Robertson’s late-night recall Friday “more the business side of it” and “making sure we’re prepared for any scenario.”
While Sean Durzi missed his second straight practice for what the team described as “maintenance,” the 28-year-old defenseman participated in an optional morning skate and ultimately played against the Senators.
Shuffling the lines a bit by the second period, Sullivan replaced Pavel Dorofeyev with Oliver Bjorkstrand on the second line.
Dorofeyev scored his third goal of the season to pull the Rangers within one with 4:28 left in regulation, but the Russian sharpshooter still is struggling to make his mark on games.
“This is what I said to him this morning; I had a conversation with him,” Sullivan said after the loss. “Pav’s had a lot of chances. He’s hit a lot of posts. If a certain percentage of the ones that hit the posts have gone in the net, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. That’s the nature of hockey. If he wasn’t getting the chances, it would be a different conversation. He got a nice goal tonight. It’s a goal scorer’s goal. We’re hoping that might get him going.”