BUFFALO — Ryan Lindgren and Tyler Motte were both full participants in practice Friday afternoon at the HarborCenter practice rink, but Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant was understandably apprehensive to officially declare the two players ready to go.

It sounded as if both skaters will be game-time decisions for the 5 p.m. Saturday matchup against the Sabres.

There is never a good reason to rush players back if they’re not 100 percent, but with each game that passes, the Rangers have less and less time to jell as a whole.

Ideally, the team will have all of the next 18 games to see what a full-strength lineup looks like.

At the very least, Lindgren and Motte appear primed to return in the next couple contests.

“Still day-to-day,” Gallant said. “We’re not sure yet. Him and Motte both. We’ll make sure. We’ve got a day to see how things went [Friday] with them and we’ll find out tomorrow. … I don’t want to put any pressure on them. We want to make sure they’re ready to go.”

The Rangers have been without Lindgren, who injured his left shoulder on a hit from T.J. Oshie in the game against the Capitals last month, for five straight games.

The Rangers — especially his longtime defensive partner, Adam Fox — have felt his absence in each game.

Lindgren said he felt immediate pain after the hit and that he had a similar injury earlier in the season, presumably referencing the two games he missed in early November after the Bruins’ David Pastrnak committed a retaliatory interference penalty on Lindgren.

This time around, Lindgren said, it took a little more time to heal.

The 25-year-old blueliner added that the first couple of days were “tough,” but that it has gotten better recently.

“It obviously sucks not playing and you want to be out there,” he said. “But, you know, you’ve got to be smart, too, and take your time. Make sure that when you do get back out there, you’re feeling good. It’s never fun missing games like this. It’s just kind of boring. It’s nice to travel with the team and be with the guys and stuff, but just want to get back out there.”

Motte skated in just nine games last season for the Rangers following the trade deadline, before he suffered an upper-body injury on April 7, 2022  against the Penguins.

That kept him out for the remainder of the regular season and the first five games of the playoffs.

This time around, however, the injury appears to be less significant.

After the Senators traded him back to New York on Feb. 19, Motte was competing in his sixth game of the season for the Rangers when he was knocked out in the first period of their 5-3 loss to Ottawa.

He sustained an apparent head injury on a dirty hit from Austin Watson, who raised his elbow and left his skates during the check.

“Not sure I’m allowed to share my full thoughts,” Motte said of the hit. “Whether they took a look at it or not, from a player’s point of view, you never like to see someone get hurt. You never like to get hurt. When you see those plays you always look for ways that it could be avoided, I guess.

“They decided not to do anything disciplinary for it, but we move on. What’s said and done, just move on. Looking forward to getting back to playing hockey again.”

If Motte returns to the lineup, the Rangers will have to return their emergency recall, Jonny Brodzinski, to AHL Hartford.

The next forward injury that occurs would reset the whole process, meaning the Rangers would have to play another game shorthanded before they could make another emergency call up.