The good news was that the Rangers don’t believe Mika Zibanejad suffered another concussion. But Zibanejad, the Rangers’ top center who has a history of head injuries, still did have to leave Sunday’s ugly 7-4 loss to the Bruins at the Garden due to an “upper-body” injury suffered on a shoulder-to-chest hit from Patrice Bergeron late in the first period.
Coach David Quinn said Zibanejad is “day-to-day,” and Zibanejad even played a shift after the hit, but he did not come out to the bench for the start of the second period. Bergeron actually had the puck when the play happened, not just bracing for Zibanejad coming at him, but executing a “reverse hit” to protect the puck.