Rangers coach Gerard Gallant: Vitali Kravtsov must learn to protect himself on ice
Dallas Stars center Luke Glendening (11) and New York Rangers right wing Vitali Kravtsov (74) battle for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth) Credit: AP/Michael Ainsworth
Vitali Kravtsov missed his seventh game of the season Tuesday night, when the Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 1-0, in overtime at Madison Square Garden. The 22-year-old rookie has played in just four of the Rangers’ 11 games, and he left two of those prematurely, because of injuries.
“Every time he gets on the ice, he gets hurt,’’ Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said of Kravtsov. “It's a shame.’’
The Rangers say Kravtsov will be out at least a week with an upper-body injury after he was slammed into the boards during Saturday’s game in Dallas by Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa and appeared to hit the back of his head.
Kravtsov had already missed four games after having his head driven into the boards in the first period of the season opener by Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman. And he missed last week’s game against the Islanders with an upper-body injury. Late in the second period Saturday, he raced hard into the offensive zone to negate a potential icing call against the Rangers, and stumbled. As he was falling, he was pushed into the boards by Hakanpaa.
“You’ve got to play the game hard; you’ve got to play the game aggressive,’’ Gallant said. “But he probably put himself in a bad situation the other night. I mean, I want him going in and being first on pucks. We talked about it. But, just – not be a little smarter, but – be a little safer than that. That's all.’’
Stand up for your guys
The teams engaged in a scrum at the end of the second period that saw Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim called for roughing Adam Fox, and the Rangers’ Julien Gauthier called for roughing Sanheim after he grabbed him by the throat. Ex-Ranger Kevin Hayes was called for roughing Gauthier and Ryan Lindgren, Fox’s defense partner, was given a double-minor for roughing Hayes.
Gallant didn’t mind the rough stuff, even though the Flyers ended up with a power play out of it.
“That makes teams,’’ he said. “In the NHL, when your teammates are getting punched, you're going to stand up for them.’’
Blue shorts
Center Filip Chytil missed his fifth game with an upper-body injury but the team says he is skating on his own and is day-to-day… D Libor Hajek was scratched for the third straight game.
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.
