KANATA, Ont. — Marc Staal is no stranger to hits to the head. So when the Rangers defenseman put a lick on Jason Spezza in Wednesday night’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Senators in Game 4, it was something to notice.
With 2:18 left in the second period, Spezza came barreling into the offensive zone and Staal got his hands up, eventually pushing through Spezza and getting him in the head as Senators’ alternate captain went down to the ice.
“He kind of came into me more than me trying to come into him,” Staal told The Post. “He came outside, I was going for the puck and he leaned in on me.”
Staal was concussed on a hit from his brother, Eric, in a game on Feb. 22, 2011, forcing him to miss some time last season and keeping him out for the first half of this season. He eventually made his debut in the Winter Classic in Philadelphia on Jan. 2.
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With a large-scale shuffling of the Rangers’ lines, it was Chris Kreider who came out on the short end of the stick.The 20-year-old who joined the team a week ago was moved down to the fourth line where, playing with John Mitchell and Mike Rupp, he got just 3:29 of ice time — starting with a paltry 45 seconds on two shifts in the first period.
Kreider was 11 days removed from winning his second national championship at Boston College, and made his NHL debut in Monday’s Game 3, when he played 11:11 while alongside superstars Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik.
Taking Kreider’s spot alongside Gaborik was Artem Anisimov, with Derek Stepan in the middle to reunite a line that played upwards of 50 games together this season. Richards then centered Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky, with the Ruslan Fedotenko-Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust line the only one to carrying over from the previous games this series.
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Daniel Alfredsson missed his second straight game as he continues to suffer the effects of a concussion sustained on a hit from Carl Hagelin in Saturday’s Game 2.
Alfredsson took part in the team’s morning skate before the Rangers’ 1-0 win Game 3 on Monday, coach Paul MacLean saying he passed baseline test. But at some point before the game, MacLean said he suffered “a setback.”
Since then, Alfredsson has been off the ice, and Wednesday morning MacLean said, “At this time, there’s no update and no change.”