Hard to know exactly how this would have turned out if Artemi Panarin had played, but it couldn’t have been too much worse for the Rangers.
With their best player a late scratch presumably because of a lingering minor upper-body injury, the Blueshirts dropped a 4-2 contest to the Islanders at the Garden on Tuesday night. It leaves a sour taste in their mouths as they head into the 10-day break, with the All-Star Game this weekend in St. Louis going into their bye week.
The Rangers (23-21-4) had beaten the Islanders (29-15-5) twice last week, but before this three-game midseason miniseries could be completed, they suffered a last-minute loss to the Blue Jackets in the Garden on Sunday night.