DENVER — Add another Ranger to the injury report.
The Blueshirts were without leading scorer Michael Grabner for Saturday afternoon’s 3-1 loss to the Avalanche at Pepsi Center. Just before puck-drop, the team announced Grabner was suffering from the flu and recent call-up Daniel Catenacci would make his Rangers debut.
Immediately after the game, coach Alain Vigneault said he had “no idea” if Grabner was going to be ready for the second leg of this back-to-back, Sunday night against the Kings in Los Angeles.
Grabner had 20 goals while he had played in every one of the team’s first 46 games. The 30-year-old Austrain followed up his 27-goal campaign last season, his first on Broadway, with another impressive start. He is in the final year of a two-year, $3.3 million contract that was already an extreme bargain — and also makes Grabner an attractive trade chip with the upcoming Feb. 26 deadline.
Both Kevin Hayes (leg contusion) and Marc Staal (hip pointer) skated Saturday morning but missed the game, as expected. They are set to skate again Sunday morning in L.A. before a determination is made if they will play.
“I would say both Kevin and Marc are at best 50-50,” Vigneault said.
It was the fourth straight game Hayes missed, having been hurt back on Jan. 7 against the Golden Knights but playing Jan. 13 against the Islanders before the pain became worse. It was the second straight game Staal missed after he left the 5-1 win over the Flyers on Tuesday following the second period.
Catenacci played 11:03 on a line with David Desharnais and Vinni Lettieri, and he had a good chance to score early in the second period that was denied by goalie Jonathan Bernier. But the Rangers were down at that point, 1-0, because Catenacci had lost his man, defenseman Erik Johnson , for a tip-in goal 9:00 into the first period.
Defenseman Tony DeAngelo also came in for his first game for the Rangers since Oct. 23, having been called up from AHL Hartford on Friday. DeAngelo played 16:07 while paired with Brendan Smith. He was also wrongly credited with being on the ice for Colorado’s first goal, when the defensive pair on after an icing was Brady Skjei and Steven Kampfer.
“Everybody worked hard and gave their best,” Vigneault said when asked for an assessment of the recent call-ups. “That’s what you want from your players.”