Rangers lose forward Sammy Blais to apparent knee injury
Rangers left wing Sammy Blais is assisted off the ice by a trainer and Chris Kreider in the third period of an NHL game against the Devils at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The injuries are starting to accumulate for the Rangers. It looks as if they are going to lose grinding winger Sammy Blais after he suffered an apparent right knee injury early in the third period of Sunday night’s 4-3 shootout win over the Devils.
Blais left 1:02 into the third after he and the Devils’ P.K. Subban went to the corner boards for a puck and Subban’s skate appeared to clip Blais’ skate. Blais’ right knee appeared to bend awkwardly as it went into the boards. He was helped off the ice, putting no pressure on his right leg.
After seeing the replay, the Garden crowd started a chant of "Subban [stinks].’’
It was the second time a Ranger has been injured in a skate-to-skate incident involving Subban. In the preseason, he appeared to slew-foot Ryan Reaves, who was injured and forced to leave that game. Subban has been fined for slew-foot incidents twice since the regular season began.
Rangers coach Gerard Gallant didn’t seem optimistic about Blais’ status.
"I don’t know what’s going to take place, because it didn’t look good to me,’’ he said. "But I won’t know anything until tomorrow.’’
When asked what he thought about the play on which Blais was injured, Gallant said it looked "a lot like the Reaves one, what I saw.’’
If Blais, 25, is out for an extended period, it could create a problem for the player and the Rangers. He is in the final year of his contract and will be a restricted free agent in the summer.
Blue notes
Gallant said C Filip Chytil, who was placed on IR Saturday with an upper-body injury, skated again by himself on Sunday for "45 minutes or an hour.’’ Chytil missed his third game . . . C Ryan Strome played in his 200th game as a Ranger . . . C Greg McKegg, who was called up from Hartford Saturday, was scratched for the second straight game along with D Jarred Tinordi.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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