Rangers’ Kreider out at least 5 games with hand injury

The Rangers were dealt a serious blow Wednesday morning when coach Alain Vigneault announced forward Chris Kreider is suffering from a rather serious left-hand injury and will miss not only Wednesday’s Garden match against the Flyers, but will be out at least for the upcoming four-game trip through Western Canada.

“We’re still in the process of evaluating the course of action here,” said Vigneault, whose team called up forward J.T. Miller from AHL Hartford and will immediately insert him into the lineup. “We’ll know here in the next couple days.”

When asked directly whether surgery was an option, Vigneault would not shoot it down.

“We’re trying to decide the next course of action,” he said. “We’re trying to figure that out.”

The coach said Kreider was hurt at some point in Friday’s 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets in Columbus, then played in Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Devils in Newark as well as Monday’s 4-3 overtime win against the Coyotes in the Garden while dealing with “very limited pain.”

The 22-year-old physical winger played just three third-period shifts Monday, and none in the overtime, but Vigneault said the injury was not part of that decision.

“I decided in the third period to go down to three lines,” said Vigneault, who was also dealing that night with Derek Stepan and Martin St. Louis battling the flu bug and hardly able to contribute. “[Kreider] was the out man out, and it was nothing to do with the injury.”

Multiple players in the Rangers locker room said they were aware of Kreider dealing with an injury, with one player telling The Post he saw a large black-and-blue mark on the inside of Kreider’s left wrist. Playing much of the season on a top line with Derek Stepan and Rick Nash, Kreider is in a four-way tie for second on the team in goals (17) and sixth on the team in points (37).

“It’s a loss of a big, fast winger that takes the body, but really, after that, we can’t worry about it,” Brad Richards said. “It’s very disappointing for Chris. He was pretty down. As a player, we’ve all been through different, crazy things, and as teams, we’ve all had to deal with different things.”

Late Tuesday night, TSN’s Bob MacKenzie tweeted that Kreider could be out up to a month, but Vigneault was not so clear on a timeline.

“Give me a couple of days here to figure out a course of action,” Vigneault said.

Missing Wednesday’s game is a big blow in itself, with the Flyers just one point behind the Rangers for second in the Metropolitan Division, though Philly holds two games in hand. The Blueshirts will have just eight games remaining after this one. The road trip that starts Friday in Calgary also carries the Rangers through Edmonton, Vancouver and then Denver.

“It’s the biggest game of the season, right now, tonight,” said Nash, who likely will be joined on his line by St. Louis, while Miller will be inserted onto a line with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello. “We know, we all look at the standings, it could be a playoff matchup. There is still a lot that can happen. With eight games after this, a lot can happen.”


The progress continued Wednesday for John Moore. The young Rangers defenseman took the ice with his teammates for the first time since suffering a concussion in Friday’s 3-1 win at Columbus. Moore participated in the morning skate before the Garden match against the Flyers, which was going to be his third straight game out of the lineup. He was replaced by Raphael Diaz.

“Felt good,” Moore said. “They’re easing me back into it. Didn’t really push too hard on the ice, but it felt good to be out there. A little rusty, which is understandable at this time of year when you take four or five days off. Again, it’s a process and it feels good to be moving in the right direction.”

The 23-year-old said it was his first concussion, and he knew soon after being hit by Blake Comeau in the first period that it was a problem — despite the fact he pleaded to go back in, played just six shifts in the second then was pulled out for the third.

“I think more than anything it just didn’t feel right,” Moore said. “I’ve played this game long enough to know what normal is, and it wasn’t that. So I think it was smart to back off.”

Under the advice of the medical staff, Moore is also not going to try and rush back with the inexact nature of his injury.

“They’ve really stressed with me taking it one day at a time,” Moore said. “These injuries can be kind of weird that way, where you can seem to turn a corner and they all of sudden you’re back at square one. So they’re just really taking their time here with it and taking it one day at a time.”


In light of Kreider’s injury, J.T. Miller was recalled from AHL Hartford and was placed directly into the lineup, on a line with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello.

Miller, 20, had been sent to Hartford on March 5, and in nine games there he put up two goals and nine assists.

“Like any young player, it’s a process,” Vigneault said. “It’s about learning the game with and without the puck. I think the coaches there have done a real good job of helping him to understand what to do when he doesn’t have the puck.

“We know he’s got a real good skill-set, but he needs to be dependable. I think he’s learned that down there, from the reports that I’ve got. But he’s also been playing real well offensively. He’s been generating some real good chances and they’re real happy with his progression.”


Forward Dan Carcillo, who has been a healthy scratch for two of the past three games, did not take part in the morning skate, as he is the most recent Ranger to succumb to the stomach flu going around the dressing room.