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Rangers to sit McDonagh, Nash, Zuccarello and Fast against Caps

Columbus Blue Jackets  v New York Rangers

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 31: Rick Nash #61 and Ryan McDonagh #27 of the New York Rangers react to the loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 31, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the New York Rangers 6-4. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

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The Rangers have little to play for down the stretch -- they’ve clinched the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, and know they’re playing Montreal in Round 1 -- so head coach Alain Vigneault has decided to rest some veterans.

Starting tomorrow.

On Tuesday, Vigneault announced that captain Ryan McDonagh and forwards Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello and Jesper Fast would all sit out Wednesday’s game against the Capitals.

“They’ve all been playing through certain bumps and bruises,” Vigneault explained, per the club website. “So we can at this time give them a couple days here but I’m not exactly sure how things are going to unfold here.”

Vigneault went on to say none of the injuries were significant, and all four will play when the Rangers open up the posteason next week.

That said, it does create some confusion for tomorrow. Here’s what the makeshift lines will look like:

Pavel Buchnevich into Zuccarello’s spot with Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider.

Brandon Pirri will skate with Mika Zibanejad and Jimmy Vesey.

The Kevin Hayes unit with J.T. Miller and Michael Grabner was reunited, while Oscar Lindberg will skate between Matt Puempel and Tanner Glass.

New York didn’t unveil what the defensive pairings will be without McDonagh in the mix.

This will be Zuccarello’s first missed game of the year, as he was one of just four Rangers to play in all 79 contests (Miller, Stepan and d-man Nick Holden are the others).

McDonagh, who leads all Rangers by averaging 24:24 TOI per night, has appeared in 76 games, having missed a few recently with an undisclosed ailment.