The chaos that has quickly engulfed the Rangers made Sunday’s 5-2 win over the Kings feel like an afterthought. 

As encouraging as it was to see the Rangers score early and often, while limiting Los Angeles to just two goals, a K’Andre Miller match penalty and a Mika Zibanejad injury scare not only overshadowed the final score, but it could complicate how the club operates this week before Patrick Kane can officially become a Ranger leading up to Friday’s trade deadline. 

The Rangers have been incredibly fortunate with injuries both last season and for a majority of this season. For that luck to change during the most crucial week of the 2022-23 campaign would be a major headache for an organization that has been nonstop jumping through hoops to make moves. 

Ryan Lindgren was already sidelined with a shoulder injury he sustained on a controversial hit from the Capitals’ T.J. Oshie on Saturday, which prompted Ben Harpur to suit up on the blue line. But the Rangers had no intentions of playing Braden Schneider or Ryan Carpenter, who was recalled in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement rule that requires teams to dress 18 skaters if they’re cap compliant. 

The Rangers needed to ensure that the two remain healthy and are able to be sent down to the minors for the purpose of accruing cap space to accommodate a trade for Kane. 

“We talked about it as a team,” Adam Fox said of skating without Schneider or Carpenter. “At least as a D corps, we knew we just had to keep things simple. You don’t want to go out there too long, and then when you go down to four, it’s even more important.” 

Limited to just five defensemen and 11 forwards right off the bat, the Rangers then lost Miller when he was ejected for spitting in Kings defenseman Drew Doughty’s face in the first period, which left the home team with just four blueliners for a majority of the game. 

A match penalty is automatically reviewed by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, meaning Miller could be facing a suspension that would keep him out for Wednesday night’s game in Philadelphia. If Lindgren isn’t ready to play and Miller is unavailable, the Rangers would likely have to play shorthanded since they won’t have any space for recalls if Kane is on his way to New York. 

There was a split second when it looked as though the Rangers would have to play with just 10 forwards after Zibanejad took a hard shot from Doughty off his right ankle just before the Kings made it a 3-1 game on the power play in the second period. Zibanejad ultimately played the remainder of the game and later assured that he felt OK, but the sheer possibility of losing their No. 1 center shows just how delicate the Rangers’ situation is. 

“I was sick,” head coach Gerard Gallant said of watching Zibanejad go down. “I was happy the fans were [chanting his name] when he came out of the runway in the third period.” 

All the noise didn’t impact the Rangers much, however, as they got back to the offensive ways that carried them through their recent 10-game point streak. Vincent Trocheck scored twice in the second period to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead after Alexis Lafreniere opened the scoring in the first, while Artemi Panarin and Zibanejad (on the power play) each chipped in a goal in the third. 

Still, the Rangers’ cap gymnastics to make room for Kane are ongoing. 

After dealing Vitali Kravtsov to Vancouver and waiving Jake Leschyshyn, who cleared and was subsequently sent to AHL Hartford, the Blueshirts took a step toward clearing the necessary cap space to fit Kane at 25 percent of his $10.5 million cap hit. But having to recall Carpenter from the Wolf Pack slightly delayed the trade. 

Even if the Rangers wanted to compete shorthanded, they are not allowed to so long as they are cap compliant. 

Following the game, Schneider was assigned to AHL Hartford, where he will likely have to remain for a couple days to create enough space for Kane by Wednesday. Carpenter will likely be assigned back to the Wolf Pack on Wednesday to cap off the list of moves the Rangers have to make to acquire the longtime Blackhawks wing. 

“You hear noise, obviously in today’s day and age, you’re going to hear stuff,” Fox said. “I don’t know if we’re going to sit in this room and say that’s why we lost [the previous four] games. We were rolling pretty well and hit a little rut. It was good to get back on track this game.”