New York Rangers defenseman Fredrik Claesson suffered a nasty shoulder injury after being hit by New York Islanders’ Matt Martin in Saturday’s 2-1 win.
New York Rangers defenseman Fredrik Claesson suffered what looked like a bad shoulder injury when he was hit into the boards by New York Islanders forward Matt Martin on Saturday afternoon.
The Rangers won the contest 2-1 but may be without their defenseman for an unspecific amount of time.
#NYR The hit that caused Claesson injury https://t.co/Nk3kST9Wzx
— RangerProud/Frank Curto (@RangerProud) January 13, 2019
Early into the third period, Martin hit Claesson that caused him to hit the boards in an awkward way. The Rangers defenseman got up holding his right shoulder and skated to the locker room.
The Rangers finished the game with only five defensemen.
Following the game, head coach David Quinn said of the injury, “It doesn’t look good,” via Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post.
Claesson was in the lineup on Saturday for Neal Pionk, who was scratched from the lineup due to a lower-body injury. It would be a miracle if Claesson was able to lace the skates up on Sunday for the teams game in Columbus.
Neal Pionk is listed as day-to-day, coach Quinn confirmed.
“a little banged up, a lower-body issue.” It’s not certain if he will be able to play in Columbus.”
Should Pionk be unable to play Sunday, the team would put Brendan Smith back in the lineup as the Rangers have been carrying eight defensemen for most of this season.
Rick Nash to drop puck on Sunday night
The Columbus Blue Jackets announced Rick Nash, who announced his retirement from the NHL last week, would drop the ceremonial puck between the Columbus and New York.
Nash was a first-round draft pick for the Blue Jackets in 2002 and still holds some records for the organization. He was also a New York Ranger for six seasons, which included a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014.
