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Rangers' Kevin Klein out indefinitely with fractured thumb

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Kevin Klein’s injured right thumb will keep him off the ice for the foreseeable future.Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images

Kevin Klein’s injured right thumb will keep him off the ice for the foreseeable future.

The Rangers sustained a big blow to their defense corps as the team announced Wednesday Kevin Klein suffered a fractured right thumb and is out indefinitely.

Klein, whose thumb was already less than 100 percent after blocking a shot with it on Jan. 16, was hurt in Tuesday’s loss to the Devils when his thumb jammed into the boards after a hit from the Devils’ Reid Boucher. Alain Vigneault said it may be several days before a timetable for Klein’s recovery is known.

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“All we heard was him screaming a little bit because of the pain, thought something had happened,” Vigneault said. “The referee said, ‘Listen, he just fell awkwardly.’ There was no slash, no nothing.”

Klein, 31, leads the Rangers in plus/minus at +14 and was the team’s most consistent defenseman for the first two months of the season before suffering an oblique injury. He’s had bad injury luck the last two years, fracturing his arm late last season while blocking an Alex Ovechkin shot. The Rangers (27-18-5, 59 points,) who play the Wild (23-18-9, 55 points) on Thursday at the Garden, are 3-7-2 this season without Klein.

The thumb woe paves the way for 23-year-old rookie Dylan McIlrath to return to the lineup. McIlrath played well when he dressed consistently in Klein’s stead in December, earning important minutes on the penalty kill. Vigneault said as of Wednesday there were no plans to call up an extra defenseman from Hartford.

McIlrath didn’t think he’d even play in the 20 games he’s already participated in this season, and he learned during his stretch of consistent playing time in December that he belongs in the NHL. But now he’s stepping in at a time when the Rangers desperately need to string together victories to hang on to their playoff position, sitting in second place in the Metropolitan Division, just two points ahead of Pittsburgh and New Jersey.

“The games matter a lot more now,” McIlrath said. “Every game matters, but yeah, second half of the season is getting ready for playoff time. The intensity’s got to ramp up. I’m looking forward to that. I like that type of hockey.”

Special teams continue to be a problem area for the Rangers, who were 0-for-4 on the power play Tuesday while surrendering two power-play goals to the Devils on two attempts. Still, Vigneault remains optimistic his club will thrive amid a playoff push.

“This team has proved a multitude of times that it plays its best hockey under pressure, and I like the fact that we’ve got a great challenge in front of us,” Vigneault said. “We’re in a real good position. A lot of people say we should be in a better position, but we’re in a good position.”

* * *

Rick Nash (left leg bone bruise) skated for 40 minutes before Wednesday’s practice but won’t play on Thursday. He’s “improving every day,” Vigneault said. Nash missed the final two games before the All-Star break before sitting out Tuesday’s loss. 

Tags:
kevin klein ,
new york rangers ,
nhl ,
sports injuries

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