The Rangers lost two players at once — and three overall — in their 6-4 comeback win over the Islanders in the second exhibition game Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Only one returned.
Artemi Panarin (lower body injury) and Ryan Lindgren (upper body injury) both left Tuesday’s contest and did not return.
According to head coach Peter Laviolette, both skaters are still being evaluated.
The third Ranger to leave the game with an injury was Filip Chytil, but the Czech center returned shortly after and ended up finishing the contest.
Chytil was lit in the middle of the ice by Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield less than half in the first period and was not able to get to the skates under his own power.
As the 25-year-old struggled to his feet, Lindgren looked for retribution and went after Mayfield, who got the best of the fight.
Trainers came out to see Chytil before his teammates helped him off the ice, while Lindgren went to the locker room after being hit with a fight and an instigator penalty.
Lindgren may have suffered an upper body injury during the fight with Mayfield.
Despite being unable to bear weight on his left leg when he left the ice, Chytil returned to the ice before the end of the period.
He scored a power-play goal in the third period before finishing with 9:59 of ice time.
“I saw him coming, maybe I could have made a better move,” said Chytil, who is said to be playing hockey. “But I saw him coming, I was ready to hit, but I wasn’t ready for the knee to come to my leg. This is a hockey game. I didn’t think about anything on the ice, even in the locker room and then I saw that everything was better. So I went back and played.
The Rangers then lost Panarin in the third period.
The Russian winger went down the tunnel with what Rangers said was a lower-body injury, and he did not return for the remainder of the final frame.
There didn’t appear to be any contact with Chytil’s head, who was sidelined for all but 10 regular-season games last season with his fourth concussion, but his left knee took the brunt of the attack.
Chytil was looking down at the puck when Mayfield stepped up and awkwardly crashed into him.
Throughout the start of training camp, Chytil has been operating under zero restrictions.
He said he wanted to play in as many exhibition games as possible to get off the ice over the past five months, which may have been a factor in him playing in the first two exhibition games.
“That’s who I am,” Chytil said when asked why it’s important he’s back even though it’s only the preseason. “If I can play, I will play.”
Zac Jones scored twice in Tuesday’s win, including a goal late in the third period to make it a one-goal game.
Chris Kreider also scored twice, including the game-tying goal and an empty netter.
Adam Edstrom, who scored two goals in his rookie game earlier this month, scored the game winner.
Victor Mancini caught Laviolette’s attention with a two-point night in the preseason opener against the Bruins.
“I thought he was really strong in the game,” the head coach said before Tuesday’s game. “He’s been like that, but for me, he’s one of those guys that’s really shown up in the new game. He’s seen it in the scrimmages and the practices that we’ve had with him.
“He’s big, he’s strong, he skates. He seems to be able to protect the puck from players trying to get it away from people. He can use his speed and his size to put it in an area where he can make the next play. I think he has a show which is powerful in Boston.
Matthew Robertson (lower body injury), Ryder Korczak (upper body injury) and Talyn Boyko (upper body injury) are all considered day-to-day and did not skate on Tuesday.
