DALLAS – The injuries are starting to pile up for the Rangers, but despite losing Vitali Kravtsov to what appeared to be a head injury, the Blueshirts got third-period goals by Zac Jones, Julien Gauthier and Vincent Trocheck to break open a tight game and snap their four-game winless streak with a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars in the front end of a back-to-back Saturday afternoon in the American Airlines Center.
Jones, a defenseman, broke a 3-3 tie with his first career NHL goal at 11:18 of the third period and Gauthier, called up during the week after forward Kravtsov missed a game with a different upper-body injury, followed that 19 seconds later with his first goal of the season to make it 5-3. Trocheck, who had scored a power-play goal earlier in the game, made it 6-3 when he scored on a delayed penalty at 13:25.
Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad scored the other Rangers goals, while goaltender Igor Shesterkin (4-0-2) made 30 saves.
The Rangers were already playing without third-line center Filip Chytil, out with what officially the team is calling an upper-body injury, when Kravtsov was forced to leave the game late in the second period. The 22-year-old Russian was injured when he raced into the offensive zone to negate a possible icing call, and, while falling forward, was pushed into the boards by Dallas defenseman Jani Hakanpaa. The back of Kravtsov’s head appeared to slam into the boards and Kravtsov lay on the ice, motionless for a while before he was helped up and to the dressing room with 7:32 remaining in the period.
Kravtsov already had missed four games with an earlier injury after his head was driven into the boards by Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman in the Rangers’ season opener Oct. 11. The Rangers only described his injury then as an upper-body injury, but when he returned, Kravtsov said his head had hit the boards, which suggested it may indeed have been a concussion.
Chytil missed his third game after he was injured Sunday against the Blue Jackets when his head was hit by the upper arm of Columbus forward Cole Sillinger. Initially, the Rangers said Chytil would miss a week and would not go on the trip this weekend to Dallas and Arizona, but Chytil felt well enough to return to practice Friday and the Rangers said he might make the trip. But Chytil ended up leaving practice early because coach Gerard Gallant said he didn’t feel well. He did not make the trip.
The Rangers play again Sunday night in Arizona against the Coyotes.
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