New York Rangers center Kevin Hayes will miss his second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury.
New York Rangers center Kevin Hayes will not be in the lineup when the team takes the ice against the Arizona Coyotes Sunday afternoon (4:00 p.m. ET, MSG Network.).
Hayes has not skated since the Rangers 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 2 at MSG. He flew with the team to Colorado but, was unable to practice nor play in the Rangers 6-1 penalty-filled loss.
Saturday afternoon was supposed to be an off day for the team, but following the bad loss to the Avalanche the night before, Quinn decided to have a practice with the team and Hayes was unable to participate.
Hayes is out tonight, lingering issues from slamming into wall late in regulation v. Coyotes 12/14. Has missed many practices in interim for maintenance. Quinn confident it is "day to day." Chytil moves into middle of second line with 90, 36…Nieves centering McLeod, Strome.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) January 5, 2019
The initial injury to Hayes, as was tweeted by Larry Brooks of the New York Post on Jan. 4, seemed to occur in a game on Dec. 14 against these same Arizona Coyotes at the Garden.
In that 4-3 OT loss for the Rangers, Hayes took a hard hit into the boards and the lingering results have taken its toll on the center.
The injury has caused Hayes to only miss practices until the game in Colorado on Friday night. Hayes had been playing his best hockey of the season before the injury which included a nine-game point streak from Dec. 8 through Dec. 29 when he recorded five goals, 11 assists for 16 points. He has recorded no points his last two games.
The head coach believes the injury will not be long-term and is more of a nagging issue which explains the day to day status the team is using regarding his absence.
Tony DeAngelo out of the lineup again
Every day, it becomes more evident that defenseman Tony DeAngelo doesn’t fit in this teams structure under David Quinn. At practice on Saturday, he skated as the extra defenseman and most certainly will be a healthy scratch for the third game in a row and the 17th time this season.
Brendan Smith was skating with the top six defensemen at practice as it looks like Fredrik Claesson will also sit Sunday afternoon.
