Rangers fans named Ryan Lindgren as the 2022-23 Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award winner Monday night before the club faced the Sabres at Madison Square Garden.
“It is my honor to present this award to the player who has become the heart and soul of this building,” NYPD Lieutenant Conor McDonald, the son of the late Steven McDonald, said before announcing “No. 55” into the microphone.
The honor, which has been given annually since the 1987-88 season, is awarded to the Rangers player who “goes above and beyond the call of duty.”
It bears the name of a NYPD detective and Blueshirts fan who was shot and injured in the line of duty on July 12, 1986 before he ultimately passed away on Jan. 10, 2017.
Lindgren, who is in his fifth season with the Rangers, became the third defenseman to win the award, joining Adam Fox (2019-20) and Brian Leetch (1996-97).
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This season, the 25-year-old has recorded career highs in assists (17) and points (18), while posting a team-high plus-29 rating heading into Monday night’s matchup with the Sabres.
Whenever Lindgren has missed time over the years due to injury or for whatever reason, it becomes abundantly clear just how different of a team the Rangers are without him on the back end. Chris Kreider has referred to Lindgren as “the straw that stirs the drink.”
Lindgren is one of the hardest skaters on the team, as well as a critical part of their defensive game.
Igor Shesterkin earned the starting nod Monday night against the Sabres, his 58th start of the season.
Jimmy Vesey was named the Rangers’ Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy nominee on Monday, as voted by the New York media.
The award, which is named after the only NHL player to die as a direct result of an on-ice injury, is given to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game.
Defenseman Ben Harpur was a healthy scratch for the second straight game.
The Rangers lineup remained the same as it was in the previous contest against Columbus.
The Hartford Wolf Pack is headed to the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time since 2015, which snapped the longest postseason drought in the American Hockey League.
After their final two games of the regular season, on Friday against the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and Saturday against the Springfield Thunderbirds, Hartford could be headed for a first-round series against the third-seeded Lehigh Valley Phantoms, an affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers.
President and general manager Chris Drury assigned goaltender Talyn Boyko, who the Rangers drafted 112th overall in 2021, to AHL Hartford from the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets on Monday.
Boyko appeared in 40 games for the Rockets this season, over which he posted a 13-24-1 record with a .898 save percentage and a 3.55 goals-against average.
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