{"id":551821,"date":"2026-03-29T06:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T06:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/551821\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T06:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T06:05:12","slug":"noah-labas-return-imminent-as-rangers-season-draws-to-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/551821\/","title":{"rendered":"Noah Laba’s return imminent as Rangers’ season draws to close"},"content":{"rendered":"

Noah Laba looks ready to rejoin the Rangers rookie class.<\/p>\n

Just seven days after being labeled \u201cweek to week\u201d with a lower-body injury, the third-line center was a full participant in practice Saturday. <\/p>\n

Barring a setback, Laba could return for Sunday afternoon\u2019s game against the Panthers at Madison Square Garden.\u2028\u201cHe skated at full [speed]\u201d coach Mike Sullivan said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see how he responds to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RangersRangers center Noah Laba moves the puck down ice during the first period in a game against the Flames earlier this season. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

Laba, who was injured in the March 18 loss to the Devils and has missed the past five games, has been a rare source of optimism this season. He has recorded nine goals and 12 assists in 65 games, along with 98 hits and 42 blocked shots, while playing a key role on the penalty kill.\u2028<\/p>\n

The Rangers opened a roster spot by assigning center Juuso\u00a0Parssinen to AHL Hartford. Parssinen, who was traded to the Rangers just over a year ago, has appeared in just 20 games this season \u2014 including just one of the team\u2019s past eight \u2014 posting two goals and one assist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Igor Shesterkin will return to net Sunday, with rookie Dylan Garand \u2014 coming off his first career win<\/a> \u2014 serving as the backup.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n

Through two starts, Garand has posted a 1.44 GAA and .954 save percentage, stopping 63 of 66 shots. <\/p>\n

The 23-year-old rookie is the second Rangers goaltender (Shesterkin) in the past decade to help the team earn points in his first two career starts.<\/p>\n

\"DylanDylan Garandmakes a save during the second period of the Rangers\u2019 win over the Jets on March 22, 2026 at Madison Square Garden. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n

Sullivan said he still needs to speak with general manager Chris Drury regarding the plan for Garand\u2019s usage over the team\u2019s final nine regular-season games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got two healthy goalies that we\u2019re going to utilize,\u201d Sullivan said Saturday. \u201cDylan\u2019s part of it. I think he\u2019s played extremely well in the two games that he\u2019s played, which is really encouraging from our standpoint. He\u2019s a good, young goalie.\u201d\u2028<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead the expert take on the Blueshirts\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Rangers, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Another element in the team\u2019s plans is the health of Jonathan Quick. The 40-year-old \u2014\u00a0who suffered an upper-body injury last week \u2014\u00a0received significant reps in Saturday\u2019s practice, but he has not yet been cleared to return to game action.<\/p>\n

With two goals in Friday\u2019s win over the Blackhawks, Jonny Brodzinski recorded the third multigoal game of his career, snapping a 20-game goal drought. It was the veteran\u2019s eighth game since Feb. 5.\u2028<\/p>\n

\u201cJonny\u2019s been great,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cHe\u2019s in and out of the lineup. He knows what his role is. He embraces it. He works hard when he\u2019s not in the lineup. He keeps himself ready. He tries to make an impact and help us win. I think he\u2019s embraced his role. I think he\u2019s a good pro. I think he\u2019s a positive influence on the young players when they come up. He\u2019s got a great attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Noah Laba looks ready to rejoin the Rangers rookie class. Just seven days after being labeled \u201cweek to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4823,385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-551821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-new-york-rangers","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}