Rangers get injury scares as Hurricanes clinch Metro division
The Rangers’ hopes for first place in the Metropolitan Division were crushed by their loss to Carolina on Tuesday night, but that seemed insignificant in comparison to the concern for players’ health.
Artemi Panarin and Andrew Copp went to the locker room roughly halfway through the second period and stayed there for the remainder of the Rangers’ 4-3 loss to the Hurricanes — now division champions — who came to Madison Square Garden and roughed up the home team, which has to settle for second place.
The Rangers said Panarin suffered an upper-body injury, while Copp left with a lower-body injury, but it sounded as if they were only held out over an abundance of caution.
“They told me between periods, ‘Do you want them back?’ And I said no, I need them back next week,” said Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant, who added that the two forwards should be fine. “I hate to see it, but I’d [rather] be cautious than not have them when the games really matter.”
Copp was skating in his first game back after missing the Rangers’ game Saturday at Boston due to an undisclosed lower-body injury. It is unclear if the trade-deadline acquisition aggravated the same injury. But with the way the game was going, the Rangers kept Copp out as a precaution the moment his injury flared up.
The same went for Panarin, who has played in every game since Jan. 10 and was due for a breather.
Gallant was adamant after practice Monday that having his team 100 percent healthy for the postseason was more important than winning a couple of games. If that’s the case, the Rangers should not be dressing their full lineup in the second night of the back-to-back against the Canadiens on Wednesday or in the final matchup of the regular season against the Capitals on Friday.
And it sounded as if that is Gallant’s plan. Now that first place is off the table, Gallant admitted his mindset has changed.
It’s simply not worth getting the four players who have a shot at it into all 82 games. It’s not worth allowing Panarin to chase 100 points. It’s not worth it to see whether Chris Kreider can break the franchise record for goals in a single season or if Mika Zibanejad can reach 30 goals.
None of it would be worth it if the Rangers end up shorthanded in any capacity come Game 1 of Round 1 of the playoffs, which will be against either the Penguins or Capitals.
Despite the defeat and additional injury scares, the Rangers got Filip Chytil back in the lineup after the Czech center also missed the game against the Bruins with an upper-body injury.
On the other hand, Kaapo Kakko remained sidelined with an undisclosed lower-body injury. The Finnish winger did participate in practice on Monday, but he evidently needed another game to recuperate. Given how the last three months have shaken out for Kakko, the Rangers will not rush him back.
“You can’t really worry about [getting hurt] in the middle of the game,” said Jacob Trouba, who pulled the Rangers within two at 13:12 of the third period. “I haven’t talked to them yet but we’ll go and check on them, see how everybody’s doing. You’ve got to worry about playing the game when the game is going on.”
Carolina broke through with three goals in the second period from Vincent Trocheck, Jordan Martinook and Teuvo Teravainen. Kreider got the Rangers on the board at 16:56 to break it up, taking a one-handed pass from Frank Vatrano and finishing the breakaway for his 52nd goal of the season.
Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho scored 32 seconds into the final frame to put the game out of reach. Trouba and Lafreniere scored 5:46 apart to pull the Rangers within one with just over a minute left in regulation, but it was too late.
“It’s tough to make the playoffs in this league,” Trouba said when asked how much pride the Rangers take in finishing second. “I’ve been around long enough now [to know] it’s not a given to make the playoffs or play in those important games. It’s definitely something to be proud of.”
