Rangers' Derek Dorsett scratched after one game back from broken leg

Derek Dorsett's triumphant return from a broke fibula lasted all of one game - well, make that 8:42 plus two minutes in the clink.

No, he didn't re-injure the leg in his first game back against the Philadelphia Flyers, he's just been on the shelf for so long that he needs more practice time to get in sync with his linemates - but his two minutes for high-sticking that cost his team the Flyers winning goal in a 4-2 victory may have had something to do with it as well.

It's no secret that Dorsett spends so much time in the penalty box - 105 minutes in 38 games - that he has standing reservations, perhaps even a preferred, worn spot on the bench, but his penalty that provided the Flyers the man advantage and Wayne Simmonds' gamer prompted coach Alain Vigneault to scratch Dorsett from the Sunday match against the Boston Bruins.

“Back-to-back games, and Dors needs to practice a little more and work on his timing," Vigneault said on Sunday. "so we have a couple of days this week, and we’ll go from there,”

When pressed, the Rangers' bench boss answered questions in regard to the 27-year-olds' conditioning, which was speculated by the media to contribute to the bad penalty. “He’s fine. It’s just a question of timing right now. I think conditioning-wise he’s pretty close. It’s going to take him a couple of games.”

Dorsett doesn't contribute a whole lot on the offensive end, as his five points will attest, but he is a first-class pest that often succeeds in getting under the skin of his opponent, dropping gloves nine times against some pretty skilled fighters, so his value to the team is unquestioned, he just apparently needs some conditioning and to get his timing back...

...but he needs to do it quickly, as the Rangers' slow start out of the Olympic break has them clinging to the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race by one point over both Detroit and Columbus.  The good news is that their schedule is less-then-imposing down the stretch, and a healthy pest could make a lot of difference for the blue shirts.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/rangers-derek-dorsett-scratched-after.html