Marc Staal sits out for first time this season with hip flexor issue

Rangers defenseman Marc Staal did not play against the Sabres on Thursday night because of a hip flexor issue and also will miss the first two games of the four-city western swing, coach Alain Vigneault said. Center Kevin Hayes (leg bruise) is a question mark.

Staal, who was injured during the 5-1 win over the Flyers on Tuesday, has not skated since, and Vigneault ruled him out for Friday’s practice. “I know definitely that Marc will not skate tomorrow, so he definitely will not play on the weekend [Saturday in Colorado and Sunday in Los Angeles],” he said.

The durable defenseman and alternate captain had played in all 45 games this season, as had J.T. Miller, Kevin Shattenkirk, Rick Nash, Jimmy Vesey, Brady Skjei and Michael Grabner. Staal is a plus-8 and has a goal and seven assists. He leads the Rangers in shorthanded ice time (137:46) and is eighth in the NHL in that category.

Steven Kampfer stepped into the lineup Thursday. The Rangers, who have only six healthy blueliners, likely will call up a spare from Hartford for at least the start of the trip.

Hayes re-injured his leg in the 7-2 loss to the Islanders and missed his third straight game.

“He skated this morning; we’ll see how he responds tonight,” Vigneault said. “He would have to practice tomorrow in order to play Saturday. If we feel he can practice and play, we shouldn’t need to call anybody up, but if Hayes is doubtful, then we’re going to need an extra [forward] just in case.”

Before the Islanders game, Vigneault said Hayes “felt good, the docs felt he was all right, he played, but couldn’t get through. So looking back on it, maybe we should have given him a little bit of extra time, but it’s easy to say after the fact. When a player says I’m good to go and medically he’s cleared, usually a player goes.”

Hayes scored his 10th goal and had seven shots in 16:53 against the Islanders.