There was a somewhat somber note coming out of the Rangers’ locker room in the aftermath of the Blueshirts’ 7-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night.
Sure, Chris Kreider had a hat trick, Mika Zibanejad got somewhat unlocked and Adam Fox recorded four assists, all part of how the Rangers are “carrying a good month,” as head coach Peter Laviolette put it, into the upcoming Stadium Series tilt with the Islanders outdoors at MetLife Stadium.
But the Rangers, who have won six straight, also lost winger Blake Wheeler for an as-yet-undetermined amount of time after he suffered a right-leg injury in the first period and didn’t return. Wheeler could not get himself up on his skates after going down following a hit and had to be helped off the ice while skating only on his left leg, a stark reminder of hockey’s risks.
The Rangers called it a “lower-body injury” and Laviolette didn’t have much of an update following the game, saying, “We’ll evaluate it and address it tomorrow.”
But, the coach added, “He’s a competitor who came here for a reason. To see something like that happen, it’s tough.”
Heading toward the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline, the Rangers were already likely to be looking to add a center in the wake of losing Filip Chytil for the season, as well as perhaps another forward. Wheeler’s injury could inject more urgency into the search for a right wing, too. Shouldn’t it, in this season of high hopes?
Wheeler has nine goals and 12 assists, certainly not huge scoring numbers, but the 37-year-old has appeared in every game and logged plenty of ice time on the Rangers top line with Kreider and Zibanejad.
“Obviously, there’s a little concern there,” Fox said of Wheeler. “Obviously, we’re hoping for the best news for him.
“You never want to see stuff like that. I think, at the end of the day, we’re still people. And he’s such an important, not just player, but guy in this locker room for us and you feel his presence.”
Added Zibanejad: “You don’t want to see anyone go down and get hurt. Obviously, he’s a teammate and a friend. I don’t know what his status is, so I can’t comment on that, but yeah, you just don’t want to see that.”
The injury was at least partly to blame for the Rangers’ early sluggishness Thursday night, though they’ve had rough starts in other games, too. As lively as they looked in the second period against Montreal, pouring in four goals in a short span, they seemed sleepy in the first, especially after watching Wheeler go off the ice.
“It does take a minute to, you know, kind of get back to that emotion and fire after that,” Fox said.
Once they did, though, the Rangers looked very dangerous indeed. They scored seven times over the final 29:51 of play, including a power-play goal that snapped an 0-for-18 PP funk.
Laviolette, though, did not like how the Rangers handled the Montreal attack in the third period, in which the Canadiens were buzzing and scored twice. “The third period, we gave up way too much defensively,” the coach said.
And that’s been the biggest change he said he’s seen coming out of the All-Star break. “Not necessarily tonight, but I think defensively, we’ve done a lot of good things,” Laviolette said. “We cut down chances, eliminated a lot of stuff. And that gives you a chance.”
The Rangers have evolved during this season of expectations and, after a dip, they’re soaring again. Maybe they need one more evolution, helped by the trade deadline.