Artemi Panarin sustained a mild groin strain after scoring in his preseason debut with the New York Rangers, a 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
With the Rangers trailing 2-0, Panarin scored on the power play with a one-timer from the left face-off circle at 7:33 of the second period. Defenseman Jacob Trouba, acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on June 17, and forward Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick of the 2019 NHL Draft, had the assists. Panarin did not play the final 6:16 of the second period and sat out the third. Nico Hischier, Mikhail Maltsev, Nikita Gusev and Brett Seney scored for New Jersey. Cory Schneider made 27 saves on 29 shots in the first two periods. Evan Cormier played the third and made 12 saves. Will Butcher and Sami Vatanen each had two assists. Micheal Haley and Lias Andersson scored for New York, which was playing its first preseason game. Alexandar Georgiev allowed three goals on 11 shots in 30:10; Igor Shesterkin made 14 saves.
