According to The Athletic's Arthur Staple, New York Rangers forward Barclay Goodrow is out week-to-week. After a physical first game of the series against the Pittsburgh Penguins that saw several injuries, Goodrow appeared to escape unharmed. However, the forward was noticeably absent from warmups ahead of Thursday's 5-2 Rangers win. Replacing Goodrow in the lineup tonight was forward Dryden Hunt, who got his first postseason action as a member of the Rangers.
Goodrow is not the superstar that his teammates Artemi Panarin or Adam Fox are, however his presence as a physical, two-way forward with Stanley Cup pedigree is invaluable to this young Rangers team trying to make an earlier-than-anticipated run at a Cup. Being week-to-week should provide Goodrow with a chance to get back in the lineup should the Rangers season continue on long enough. In the meantime, the team could look to a player like Hunt who does play a similar style to Goodrow to try and fill that void.
In other Rangers injury news, Staple adds that defenseman Ryan Lindgren will be a game-time decision for Game 3 in Pittsburgh. Lindgren did not play tonight, and was instead replaced by Justin Braun, who the Rangers had acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers at the trade deadline. An underrated acquisition at the time, Braun is showing his value being able to come into the lineup after sitting in the first game, bringing with him 100 games of previous playoff experience.
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