Artemi Panarin, Andrew Copp injured in Rangers' loss to Hurricanes
Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin skates the puck past Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho on April 26, 2022. Credit: AP
After the Rangers clinched a playoff spot on April 9, coach Gerard Gallant opted to play the rest of the schedule straight up, rather than start resting his team’s stars. Gallant wanted to keep everyone sharp, and playing their best, and get them ready for Game 1 of the playoffs, and there was a battle for first place in the Metropolitan Division to consider, as well.
But that’s over now, after the Rangers lost, 4-3, Tuesday, to the Carolina Hurricanes in Madison Square Garden. With the victory, Carolina clinched first in the division.
But the Rangers left the game with bigger concerns than the standings, after they finished the game without their leading scorer, Artemi Panarin, and his linemate, Andrew Copp, who both left during the second period with injuries.
Gallant afterward said the injuries were not serious, and that both players could have re-entered the game. He kept them out because of an abundance of caution, he said.
“I think if it was next week, one of those [playoff] games, both of them would have been back,’’ he said. “I'd sooner be cautious than not have them when the games really matter. [The training staff] told me between periods, ‘Do you want [Copp] back? Do you need him back? And I said, ‘No, I need him back next week.’’’
Gallant admitted that now that first place is off the table, he will proceed with caution for the final two games of the regular season. The Rangers play Wednesday at home against the Montreal Canadiens and finish Friday at home against Washington. That game against Washington could be a playoff preview, as the Rangers, who are locked into second place in the division, will play the third-place finisher, which will be either Washington or Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh (101 points) currently holds third place, with a one-point lead over Washington. But the Capitals have two games remaining and the Penguins have one.
The Rangers needed to win Tuesday to keep alive any chance of winning the division, but after a scoreless first period they lost Panarin (to an upper-body injury) and Copp (lower body) early in the second period, and were two men short the rest of the game.
Copp had just returned to the lineup after leaving the 6-3 win over the Islanders last Thursday late in the third period and then missing Saturday’s 3-1 loss in Boston. Gallant would not say if the injury that took Copp out Tuesday was the same one that took him out last Thursday.
Carolina opened the scoring at 7:05 of the second period, on a goal by Vincent Trochek that came after Miller had lost his stick when his teammate, Ryan Lindgren, fell down and accidentally yanked the stick out of Miller’s hands. Jordan Martinook deflected in Derek Stepan’s shot at 13:48 of the period to make it 2-0.
Chris Kreider’s 52nd goal of the season, at 16:56, cut it to 2-1, but Teuvo Teravainen’s goal made it 3-1 at 18:19 and Sebastian Aho scored a four-on-four goal 32 seconds into the third period to make it 4-1.
The Rangers made a fight of it late, as Jacob Trouba scored at 13:12 of the third to make it 4-2, and then, with goalie Igor Shesterkin pulled for an extra attacker, Alexis Lafreniere scored with 1:02 remaining to make it 4-3.
Kreider, who is three goals away from breaking the franchise record of 54 held by Jaromir Jagr, was asked if he is concerned about the potential for injury with the playoffs so close. He is one of four Rangers who have a chance to play in all 82 games this season, and he didn’t sound like a man who wanted a night off.
“I mean, that's a question for coaches [and] management,’’ Kreider said. “I'm just a player. I’m a professional hockey player. If they tell me to play, I play.’’
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.
