Last night’s loss to the Islanders has further exacerbated the Rangers’ injury concerns. Already missing Pavel Buchnevich and Mika Zibanejad, New York also lost forwards Rick Nash (lower body) and Matt Puempel (concussion) during last night’s game.
Puempel was placed on Injury Reserve this morning, and Nicklas Jensen was called up from Hartford to replace him. On the positive side, Michael Grabner is expected to be back with the team after missing last night’s match due to the death of his Grandmother.
The Rangers do have spare forward Josh Jooris, who was a healthy scratch last night, so it is a little surprising that they are potentially looking at playing Jensen over a known quantity in Jooris. It’s possible they want to have a look at what they have in the young Swede at the NHL level.
As for Nash, the call-up suggests that there is some doubt he’ll play tomorrow night, though with the team being up in Winnipeg, it may simply be a case of covering their bases.
CBJ
NJD