The New York Rangers to lose Panarin after Wilson melee

After Wednesday’s practice, it was confirmed that the New York Rangers would be without Artemi Panarin for the final three games of the season.

Ryan Strome mentioned the news after Wednesday’s practice, as reported by the New York Post’s Mollie Walker. Head coach David Quinn later confirmed the news, stating that the injury did occur due to the actions done by Tom Wilson in Monday night’s game.

Walker reported that Strome made a point to say Wilson is a skilled player that can produce in this league but added, “I know it’s not my responsibility, but I just can’t believe that. It sends a bad message, in my opinion. I just think that the league missed one big time.” Strome also added that “I think it’s a joke, to be honest with you,” about the fine the NHL levied against Wilson.

Strome finished his statements about the NHL: “As players, you want the league to have your back in those situations. I just feel like they didn’t.”

Quinn echoed Strome’s sentiments, based on Walker’s reports of the press conference. “To me, anybody in hockey, certainly in our organization, is very disappointed. I certainly thought it warranted a suspension, which is really disappointing. A line was crossed. [Panarin] didn’t have his helmet on, vulnerable, he got hurt. You know, to me, there was an awful lot there to suspend him.”

Wilson only received the maximum $5000 fine from the NHL’s Department of Safety.

How will the New York Rangers respond?

Strome and Quinn were also asked how the Rangers would respond as the two teams meet again on Wednesday night.

According to Walker, Strome responded to the question of how the Rangers would respond by saying, “Just go and play hard. They have a big, strong team. They’re heavy. We know who we are. We know who they are. I don’t think there’s going to be anything crazy. It’s not the type of team we have.”

Some of the Ranger’s more physical players are out with injuries, including Chris Kreider and Ryan Lindgren. Quinn also stated that Lindgren and Jacob Trouba would miss the last three games of the season.

Quinn told the media that “We’ve talked about it as a team this morning. The fact is, we’ve got to protect each other. We’ve got to stick by each other, which is what we did last night. There are different ways to do it. The way we’re built, it’s not going to be a brawling situation.”

Walker asked Quinn about calling up Mason Geertson, a 6-foot-4, 216-pound defenseman with 43 penalty minutes in 18 games this season in Hartford. Quinn did confirm any scenarios but did say that “We’ve talked about a lot of different scenarios.”

The game between the two teams will be nationally televised on the MSNBC network.