Simply three shifts into his first NHL recreation in almost a 12 months and a half, Vitali Kravtsov suffered an upper-body damage and was sidelined for the rest of the Rangers’ 3-1 opening night time win over the Lightning at Madison Sq. Backyard.
Kravtsov, who began Tuesday night time on the second line with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, was hit by Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman and seemed to be shaken up early within the first interval.
After slowly skating over to the bench whereas crouched over, the 22-year-old retreated to the locker room, the place he remained for the remainder of the sport.
“He’s day-to-day,” head coach Gerard Gallant stated after the sport. “We’ll consider him [Wednesday]. You'll be able to by no means inform a lot early on after the sport.”
On account of the damage, the Rangers performed a lot of the recreation with 11 forwards and Gallant needed to jumble up his strains virtually straight away. Alexis Lafreniere primarily changed Kravtsov on the second line, whereas Jimmy Vesey was bumped as much as the third unit with Filip Chytil and Barclay Goodrow, who was double shifting with the fourth line, as effectively.
Zac Jones, skating on opening night time for the primary time in his profession, took Kravtsov’s spot on the second power-play unit.
The Rangers had been already with out Sammy Blais, who suffered an upper-body damage of their preseason finale towards the Islanders.
Whereas the group is sustaining that Blais’ undisclosed damage isn’t critical, happening two forwards this early within the season isn't ultimate. The subsequent ahead up can be Dryden Hunt, who was a wholesome scratch Tuesday.
The final time the Rangers performed the Lightning, in Recreation 6 of the Japanese Convention closing this previous June, Kaapo Kakko watched from the press field. He was a wholesome scratch that night time in a shocking transfer by Gallant, who later stated it was nearly dressing the very best lineup.
4 months later, not solely was Kakko within the lineup, but additionally he was on the best wing of the highest line, with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.
“I feel he’s going to be a assured man,” Gallant stated earlier than the sport. “He got here to coaching camp and performed a fantastic coaching camp. … I feel it’s extra about the way in which he got here to camp and performed. I feel he scored three targets in camp, so he’s actual assured from that. … I’m positive he’s excited to play with these guys, but when he was enjoying with [Chytil and Lafreniere], he’d be simply as completely satisfied. He’s performed effectively at camp and he deserves an opportunity.”
Kakko was sturdy on the puck within the victory Tuesday, usually dominating the battle alongside the boards and successfully digging the puck out of crowded areas. He completed with a blocked shot and a success in 13:37 of ice time.
The Rangers signed Canadian goaltender Talyn Boyko to a three-year, entry-level deal.
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