Change in the Rangers lineup after Carson Soucy returns from injury

Carson Soucy was activated from injured reserve before the Rangers’ matchup with the Wild on Monday night, but head coach Mike Sullivan did not return to the defensive formation he started the season with.

While Soucy has moved back, Sullivan has opted to keep Matthew Robertson in the top six yet The Rangers rookie impressed in all four games Play in comfort.

That took Urho Vakaninen out of the lineup, making the 26-year-old defender a healthy scratch for the first time this season.

“These decisions are always tough,” Sullivan said before the game. The Rangers lost 3-1 to Minnesota At Madison Square Garden. “We have a lot of respect for every player on the team, and what they bring to help us become a team. So we don’t make those decisions lightly. Ultimately, it’s my responsibility to try to make the best decision for the team from a roster standpoint and from a lineup standpoint. But those decisions are always tough.”

Soucy missed the previous four matches with Upper body injury He was injured in the second period of the Rangers’ game in Pittsburgh on October 11.

It was a bit of a scary play, as the 31-year-old headed into the boards first while trying to hit Penguins winger Rickard Rakell. He was back on the ice in a red non-contact jersey pretty quickly, but the Rangers placed him on injured reserve to give him plenty of time to heal.

“It looked worse than it was,” Soucy said. “It wasn’t great either at the time, it was just a shock when it happened. Then obviously it was a little rough the next couple of days, but I was feeling good. The skating felt good coming back, just trying to come back ready to play.”

“Just looking at it when you come in like that, the monitors and everything — it’s easy to see. IR, you want to come back, you want to feel good, you want to be at full strength. So I think it was just kind of smart all the way through.”

After skating alongside Will Borgen through the first three games, Soucy lined up alongside Braden Schneider in the third pairing Monday night against Minnesota. Robertson has clearly shown enough to stay alongside Borgen as the second-choice defensive pair behind Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov.

According to Sullivan, Vincent Trocheck, who has a long-term upper body injury, has not yet resumed skating. The 32-year-old center is ineligible to return until Nov. 1 at the earliest.

“He was here today,” Sullivan said Monday at the MSG Training Center. “He’s doing very well. He’s progressing, and when he gets to the next level we’ll let you know.”

Rangers goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 of the 31 shots he saw in his fourth loss of the season.