Rangers’ Urho Vaakanainen leaves game with upper-body injury

At this point in time, it’s unclear what caused the injury to Vaakanainen. He played five shifts through the first 10:07 of the game, but did not play a shift after that. He finished the game with nothing on his stat sheet in 3:07 of ice time, with the game still scoreless at the time of his departure.

There is also no details on the severity of Vaakanainen’s injury, or how much time he’s expected to miss with the injury. The Rangers have the second half of a back-to-back on the road against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, so an update will likely be provided either after the conclusion of Wednesday’s game, or on Thursday ahead of their game in Columbus.

It’s an unfortunate injury for Vaakanainen, as he’s struggled to stay in the Rangers’ lineup, although not due to injuries. While he did miss two games due to a lower-body injury in November, he’s largely not played due to being a healthy scratch on a consistent basis. He’s only got into 32 games this season, registering just six assists in those games.

Since Vaakanainen was only playing on the bottom pair with Will Borgen, the only lineup adjustment the Rangers have needed to make was alternating him alongside their other four defensemen. Matthew Robertson has taken Vaakanainen’s place on the penalty kill.

Should Vaakanainen miss any time beyond Wednesday’s game, Vincent Iorio is the only other defensemen on their NHL roster, so it’s likely he’ll slot into the lineup for Thursday if that’s the case. A waiver claim from the San Jose Sharks, Iorio has three assists in 26 games this season, including five games with the Rangers where he’s gone without a point. He also has seven assists in six games in the AHL with the San Jose Barracuda.