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Rangers lose Artemi Panarin, Ryan Lindgren to injury

Posted on by angelo
Rangers lose Artemi Panarin, Ryan Lindgren to injury

The Rangers lost two players at once — and three overall — in their 6-4 comeback victory over the Islanders in their second exhibition game Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Only one came back.

Artemi Panarin (lower-body injury) and Ryan Lindgren (upper-body injury) both left Tuesday’s game and did not return.

According to head coach Peter Laviolette, both skaters are still being evaluated.

Scott Mayfield lands a big hit on Filip Chytil during the Rangers’ 6-4 win over the Islanders on September 24, 2024. Noah K. Murray / New York Post

The third Ranger to leave the game with an injury was Filip Chytil, but the Czech pivot returned shortly after and ultimately ended the game.

Chytil was lit up at center ice by Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield less than halfway through the first period and was unable to get to his skates under his own power.

As the 25-year-old struggled to his feet, Lindgren sought revenge and attacked Mayfield, who gained the upper hand in the fight.

A coach checked on Chytil before teammates helped him off the ice, while Lindgren went to the locker room after being assessed a fighting and instigating penalty.

Filip Chytil is treated by a trainer after taking a hard hit from Islanders’ Scott Mayfield during the Rangers’ exhibition win. Images by Danny Wild-Imagn

Lindgren likely suffered his upper-body injury in the fight with Mayfield.

Although he couldn’t put any weight on his left leg as he left the ice, Chytil was back on the ice before the end of the period.

He scored a power-play goal in the third period before finishing with 9:59 of ice time.

“I saw it coming, maybe I could have made a better move,” said Chytil, who called it a hockey play. “But I saw it coming, I was ready for it, but I wasn’t ready for his knee to hit my leg. It’s a hockey play. I didn’t think about anything on the ice, even in the locker room, and then I saw everything was better. So I went back to play.”

The Rangers then lost Panarin in the third period.

The star Russian winger headed down the tunnel with what the Rangers say was a lower-body injury, and he did not return for the remainder of the final quarter.

Artemi Panarin, who later left the game with a lower-body injury, skates with the puck as Casey Cizikas defends during the Rangers’ exhibition win Noah K. Murray / New York Post

There did not appear to be any contact to the head of Chytil, who was sidelined for all but 10 regular-season games last season with his fourth suspected concussion, but his left knee took the brunt of the blow.

Chytil was watching the puck when Mayfield stepped forward and awkwardly collided with him.

Throughout the start of training camp, Chytil operated without any limitations.

He expressed his desire to play as many exhibition games as possible to make up for being off the ice for five months last season, which likely played a role in his participation in the first two exhibition games.

“It’s like that all the time,” Chytil said when asked why it was important for him to come back even though it was just the preseason. “If I can play, I’ll play.”

Zac Jones scored twice in Tuesday’s win, including a late third-period goal to cut the deficit to one.

Chris Kreider also scored twice, including the tying goal and the empty-net goal.

New York Rangers defenseman Zac Jones (6) skates with the puck against New York Islanders left wing Eetu Liukas (49) during the third period of an NHL preseason hockey game at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Noah K. Murray-New York Post

Adam Edstrom, who had two goals in a rookie game earlier this month, scored the game-winner.

Victor Mancini caught Laviolette’s attention with his two-point night in the preseason opener against the Bruins.

“I thought he was really strong in the game,” the head coach said before Tuesday’s game. “He was that way, although to me he was one of the guys that really stood out in those rookie games. He stood out in the scrimmages and the practices that we had with him.

“He’s big, he’s strong, he skates well. He seems to be able to protect the puck from players who are trying to take it from him. He’s able to use his speed and his size to put it in a zone where he can make the next play. I thought he had a really good performance in Boston.”

Matthew Robertson (lower-body injury), Ryder Korczak (upper-body injury) and Talyn Boyko (upper-body injury) are all considered day-to-day and did not skate Tuesday.