After car crash, Pavel Buchnevich returns to Rangers' lineup
Rangers right wing Pavel Buchnevich skates against the Buffalo Sabres in the third period of an NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
PHILADELPHIA — Pavel Buchnevich, who missed the previous two games after being involved in a car accident on Sunday along with teammate Igor Shesterkin, returned to the lineup Friday night.
Coach David Quinn said before the game that Buchnevich, who the Rangers said was not injured in the crash, would be a game-time decision. The 24-year-old Russian winger took warmups and was in the lineup.
Buchnevich returned to his regular spot on the right side of the top line with center Mika Zibanejad and left wing Chris Kreider. That meant Filip Chytil, who moved to the wing to fill in for Buchnevich on the first line in the previous two games, shifted back to his usual spot centering the third line. Brett Howden dropped to the fourth line and Greg McKegg, who scored against the Islanders on Tuesday, was bumped out of the lineup.
Buchnevich took a high-sticking penalty at 1:39 of the third period that led to a power-play goal by Claude Giroux that put the Flyers up 4-1. Buchnevich had two shots on goal and assisted on Howden’s goal in 16:59. He has 14 goals and 24 assists.
Notes & quotes: Teams get four non-emergency recalls from the minor leagues after the NHL trade deadline. The Rangers used two of those when they assigned Julien Gauthier and Howden to AHL Hartford on Monday, to make them eligible to play in the AHL playoffs, and then recalled them the same day after the trade deadline. So they have two recalls available if they wish to replace the injured Kreider on the roster. Among their options to replace Kreider, who suffered a broken foot in Friday night’s game, are right wing Vinni Lettieri, who leads Hartford with 25 goals, and 2018 first-round pick Vitali Kravtsov, who has five goals in 33 games . . . Shesterkin missed his third game with a broken rib.
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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