Chris Kreider added injury to insult yesterday when the team announced he has a bone chip in his ankle and will be off the ice for at least a couple days.
Kreider, the 21-year-old darling of last season’s run to the Eastern Conference finals, has started his first regular season rather innocuously, looking overmatched in the defensive zone and not making an impact offensively.
After the first three games, coach John Tortorella implied Kreider might be better off learning in the AHL, and he was a healthy scratch for the team’s 2-1 loss in the Philadelphia on Thursday.
“It’s not a severe injury at all,” Tortorella said before last night’s 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs at the Garden.
Kreider played 33 games for the Connecticut Whale (AHL) during the four-month lockout, and got hurt at some point during that stretch.
“He was banged up, he hurt his ankle [with the Whale],” Tortorella said. “I don’t exactly what it is, but it’s not a serious injury. …He’ll get a couple days’ rest and we’ll see what happens from there.”
Taking his spot in the lineup on Thursday was Kris Newbury — who was immediately sent back down. Last night it was Benn Ferriero, who the team traded for just two days earlier.
* Ferriero’s debut as a Rangers so impressed Tortorella it earned a postgame cuss.
“I thought that little [guy] Ferriero played well,” Tortorella said.
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound forward got 12:40 of ice time and had one shot and one hit.
“I liked his speed and his composure,” Tortorella said. “What happens from here, I don’t know, but he played well.”
* Tough-guy forward Arron Asham returned after missing the previous two games with a mild groin strain, and fought Mike Brown seven seconds into his first shift, 3:59 into the first. That was followed by Mike Rupp squaring off against former Ranger Colton Orr on the next faceoff.
* After playing the first two games as a defenseman and the next two as a forward, Stu Bickel was a healthy scratch. Taking his spot on the back line for the third straight game was Steve Eminger, who played 4:12.