Artemi Panarin’s loss was Chris Kreider’s gain.
Panarin had been selected as the Rangers’ lone All-Star for this weekend’s festivities in St. Louis, but the superlative winger has been dealing with an upper-body injury for about a week. It finally forced him to miss a game, Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Islanders, and will keep him out of what would have been his first All-Star appearance in his fifth NHL season.
Kreider was chosen as a replacement, and gets to make his first appearance at the league-wide party, starting with the skills competition Friday — in which it can be assumed Kreider will participate in the fastest-skater competition — before the three-on-three All-Star Game itself on Saturday.