Preview: Panarin & Miller out, 1st game for Devils in 2 weeks
By Steve Paulus
The New York Rangers have been off since Friday due to a COVID postponement, but that is nothing compared to the New Jersey Devils who last played on January 31 with over a dozen players out of action due to the NHL’s COVID protocols. How the long layoff will affect the Devils remains to be seen.
The Devils still have some players on the restricted list while the Rangers are not affected with only the injured Filip Chytil on the COVID list. However, the Rangers’ injured list is getting longer. This morning, Coach David Quinn confirmed that Artemi Panarin and K’Andre Miller will not play.
#NYR Panarin and Miller will not play tonight but are “close,” per Coach Quinn.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 16, 2021
Panarin tweaked what looked like a groin in Wedneday’s game against the Bruins and Miller suffered an upper body injury on Friday night. It’s unclear how Miller was hurt or how serious it is. He was at practice on Monday, but was taken off the ice as a precaution.
That means more lineup changes for the Blueshirts as they look to halt a three game losing streak and to try to win for the first time without Panarin.