NHL

Rangers’ Staal diagnosed with another concussion

Marc Staal did indeed sustain a concussion Saturday night, Rangers’ coach Alain Vigneault confirmed before his team lost to the Predators, 4-1, Tuesday night at the Garden.

This is Staal’s second recorded concussion, though Vigneault said club physicians do not believe it is as serious as the one he incurred in February 2011 that ultimately sidelined the defenseman for the first 36 games of the 2011-12 season.

“Marc has been diagnosed with a concussion which our doctors feel might not be as serious as the past,” the coach said. “He is feeling better and we will take it day-by-day.”

Staal left the ice midway through the third period of Saturday’s match against the Devils after taking a shoulder to the jaw from New Jersey winger Reid Boucher on a check along the boards. He had been nailed on an earlier high hit behind the net against the glass late in the first period by Michael Ryder.

The Rangers and Staal have consulted with the club’s Michigan-based concussion specialist, Dr. Jeffrey Scott Kutcher, but Vigneault said the physician does not believe there is a need for the alternate captain to visit him for an exam.

This marks the third successive season in which Staal has had to deal with a serious injury. The defenseman missed the final 27 games of last year’s regular season and all but one game in the playoffs after being struck around the right eye by a deflected shot on March 5.


Staal’s spot in the lineup was taken by Michael Del Zotto, as it was for Sunday’s lifeless 4-1 loss to the Capitals.

Del Zotto played 20:20 and tied a personal season-high with four shots on net while on the left side of the second pair with Anton Stralman. Del Zotto had been a healthy scratch against the Devils, and was benched for five of the previous 11 games before that.

Justin Falk was on the left side of the third pair with John Moore, making it the third straight game the left-handed Moore had played his off-side.

“We’re still debating that,” Vigneault said when asked whether he believes the defenseman is more comfortable on the right. “Both Moore and Falk had their [poor] moments in the last game, so we’re hoping there will be less of those moments.

“We know that both of their intentions are real good, they are solid persons that want to do really well.”


Fourth-line center Dominic Moore returned to the lineup after sitting out Sunday as a healthy scratch, while Derek Dorsett skated after missing the last three games and five of the last seven with a sprained left wrist.

Rugged forward Arron Asham, recalled from the AHL Hartford on Monday, played a team-low 6:33 in his first game for the club since Oct. 10, soon after which he was demoted.

Benoit Pouliot and Taylor Pyatt were the scratches up front.