Mika Zibanejad returning to Rangers lineup

New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad will return to the lineup on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars (SN, SN1, TVA Sports, MSG, FS-SW+, NHL.TV) after missing the past 25 games with a broken fibula.

"He's going to play tomorrow," coach Alain Vigneault said after practice Monday.

Zibanejad has been sidelined since sustaining the injury against the Florida Panthers on Nov. 20. He skated on the second line between Rick Nash and Pavel Buchnevich, and on the second power-play unit with Nash, Buchnevich, J.T. Miller and Adam Clendening, during practice.

Zibanejad has five goals and 15 points in 19 games of his first season with the Rangers, who acquired him with a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft in a trade with Ottawa Senators for center Derick Brassard and a seventh-round pick in 2018 on July 16.

- NHL