Prior to Wednesday night, the Rangers had lost just one player to the COVID protocol list when Kaapo Kakko missed the Feb. 1 game against the Penguins, which turned out to be a false positive test.
Kakko returned to the list on Saturday, when he was excluded for the Blueshirts’ contest in Washington and remained on him for Wednesday’s match in Philadelphia. However, that wasn’t all, as the Blueshirts put K’Andre Miller on the list and in the hours leading up to the Flyers’ 4-3 loss.
It is unclear whether Miller, who was replaced in line by Jack Johnson, did so. It is also unknown if the Rangers could be vulnerable to an outbreak following these situations, which took place five days away.
Johnson, a scratch for Saturday’s victory over the Capital, played in the Rangers’ 3-2 victory in Philadelphia on Thursday, after missing the last eight games with a groin injury. He participated in only one practice before joining the team.
Mika Zibanejad played probably his most dynamic game, amassing a pair of assists in 20:20, but was denied twice in the shortcuts, the second with 3:40 remaining and Blueshirts down with 4-3. Zibanejad was also refused earlier, remaining 5:45 in the first period, when the puck rolled over him.
Both times, he went backwards. Brian Elliott was up to the task. He was asked if he thought he could have scored if he had a normal season, not the one in which he has two goals, with one in an empty net.
“I don’t know. I made the move I usually do, he read it, he didn’t come in,” Zibanejad said. “So I don’t know. It’s a hard question to answer. It just leads to more speculation. I’m just trying to keep it as simple as possible and not rethink these chances. “
The pair of assists doubled the center’s season total to four.
Blueshirts delivered 39 shots on goal, the most allowed this season.
The Rangers, 2-for-5 in the power play, have now scored three in a row with the man advantage (4-for-15) after going 0-for-14 in the last five games.
In the absence of Miller, Kakko, Jacob Trouba (thumb) and Artemi Panarin (leave of absence), Brendan Smith and Anthony Bitetto were on the points of the second power unit. Blueshirts scored 10 power goals, with the first unit activated for nine of them.
Rangers won only 20 of 55 matches (36%), with Zibanejad winning only two of his 14 draws.