Rangers Recap: Rangers lose Kakko, game to Buffalo

After the emotional, solid win against the Bruins on Saturday afternoon, a clunker seemed all but inevitable against a struggling Buffalo Sabres. The Rangers lacked ability to execute plays they’ve been running pretty much all year, costly turnovers led to grade-A scoring chances, and the team defense in front of Igor Shesterkin was not at all what it needs to be to win.

The real concern though is Kaapo Kakko, who had to leave the game due to a pretty gruesome injury that looked very similar to Sammy Blais a few seasons ago. At the time of this post, he is still being evaluated, but telling that Laviolette didn’t immediately bring up “day-to-day”.

There were very few positives from this game, a single power play goal by Mika Zibanejad was the only offense to speak of. But at least the Rangers get Adam Fox back tomorrow, which should bring some life back to the offense. Going 7-2-1 without the best defenseman in the NHL is a big win for the Rangers, even if last night was a loss.

Final thought, with the potential for long term injury in regards of Kaapo Kakko and his leg tonight, it really is making me wonder if now is the time to bring up Brennan Othmann from the Hartford Wolfpack. The broadcast mentioned how he has really started to find his game in Hartford and that he has 6 points in his last 5 games.

Might we see a Fox return and a Rangers debut on national television Wednesday night? It could be the right call. The timing may not be any better than this to give him a look. Worst case scenario, they send him back down after a game or two.

Anyway, don’t burn this tape, but don’t harp on it for too long, and hope for the bounce back tomorrow night.