The New York Rangers enjoyed an impressive performance in their 6-2 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Garden last night. Unfortunately, offseason acquisition Ryan Reaves was hurt in the first period.
At the 9:59 mark, PK Subban took Ryan Reaves to the boards and tripped him up. Reaves’ left leg got caught in a rut and bent awkwardly. The Blueshirts toughest player had to be helped off the ice ending his night. The Rangers announced it as a lower-body injury.
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Ryan Reaves escapes serious injury
Reaves, 34, is no stranger to the physical aspects of the game. In 686 games he has accumulated 937 penalty minutes. He can also chip in with some occasional offense as he’s picked up 101 points over that time. The big forward also likes to throw the body with 2,322 hits in his career to go with 75 major penalties.
Of course, being that physical can come with injuries and going for a puck battle in the corner led to one.
“Day-to-day,” Gerard Gallant said about Reaves’ injury status. “I don’t think [the injury is serious] at least from the early indications. We’ll know more tomorrow or the next day.”
And that noise you heard was a collective sigh of relief in Rangerstown.
PK Subban says it was an accident
During the game, Chris Kreider seemed hellbent at getting revenge on PK Subban. The replay shows Subban’s left foot sticking out and tripping Reaves. It looked liked Reaves’ left skate got stuck in the ice and bent awkwardly underneath him leading to the injury. The Blueshirts obviously felt it was a dirty play, but Subban made it clear that it was just an accident.
“I tried to go in there and brace myself. Obviously my leg was still on the ice dragging a little bit and I know his leg sort of buckled,” Subban said. “He’s an important player for their team – a guy that I know. It’s just unfortunate. You saw my reaction after it happened, I tried to help him…it’s obviously an accident.”
In fairness, Gallant saw it pretty much the same way.
“I don’t think it was a vicious hit or a slew foot,” he said after the game. “I don’t think there was any intent at all. I don’t think PK intended to cause the injury.”
Gallant was also pleased with the Rangers response to the injury and standing up for a teammate.
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