Artemi Panarin, the Rangers’ leading scorer and most dynamic offensive player, is in COVID protocol, the team announced moments before its matinee game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden Sunday.
Panarin, who has 10 goals and 26 assists in 31 games, joins defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Jarred Tinordi and penalty-killing forward Kevin Rooney on the COVID list. In addition, the Rangers announced that assistant coach Mike Kelly also is in protocol, and defenseman Patrik Nemeth was unavailable for the game because of a non-COVID issue.
Making the Rangers’ task against the two-time Stanley Cup champions even more difficult was that Lightning No.