The New York Rangers lost to the Buffalo Sabres 5-1, with Kaapo Kakko suffering an injury in the second period.
New York, N.Y: The New York Rangers have faced adversity all season and had a boatload of obstacles hurled at them tonight. Tonight's 5-1 loss was their fifth game in eight days.
Kaapo Kakko left the contest with an injury 15 minutes into the second period. He needed his teammates to assist him off the ice and did not put any weight on his left leg. Here is the video (courtesy of MSG Networks):
The Rangers played the rest of the contest with 11 forwards, Panarin and Lafreniere double shifting the extra minutes.
Mika Zibanejad stated, "I don't think during the 60 minutes of play we got up to our level of play at all, besides a few shifts here or there. It was not a good one."
In regards to Kaapo Kakko, he said, "I wish him all the best...he's a really good player and you don't want to see anything happen to any of our players."
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said the injury was "lower body" and that Kakko would be assessed further tomorrow.
The injury to Kakko is a pressing matter. The club is already down Filip Chytil, played without Adam Fox for the last month and saw Igor heal from an injury for a stretch of games.
They could roll with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen on Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings if Adam Fox returns.
The other option is to call up Jonny Brodzinski, who leads the AHL in scoring with 25 points in 11 games.
That roster move would make the most sense if Kakko or Chytil is placed on the LTIR to help manage the limited cap space the organization has.
The best team in the NHL has lost another skater to injury. What an oxymoron.
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