DALLAS _ Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey, the victim of a dangerous hit in the head from Nashville's Filip Forsberg on Saturday night, has apparently been ruled out of Monday's game against the Stars as Forsberg faced a Sunday hearing with the league's Department of Player Safety.
Vinni Lettieri was called up from Hartford on Sunday. Lettieri, who turns 23 on Tuesday, has 14 goals and nine assists in 35 games for the Wolf Pack and a goal and three assists in 10 games with the Rangers this season.
Forsberg, who was not penalized for a high hit that bloodied Vesey's mouth midway through the second period in the Predators' 5-2 win, was suspended three games by the league and will miss Monday's matchup with the Islanders in Brooklyn.
Vesey was removed from the game as a precaution during the second intermission, as was Marc Staal, who was slammed into the boards by Alexei Emelin shortly before the Vesey incident.
There was no penalty or hearing for Emelin, who sidelined Staal sidelines with an elbow to his head, which hit the glass. He stood up, skated slowly off and did not return, raising immediate concerns from his teammates.
Coach Alain Vigneault canceled a scheduled practice in Nashville, so it was unclear whether Staal could play against the Stars before the team returns home. If he can't go, defenseman Steven Kampfer, who has played 18 games, will step in.
In addition to the retina tear and orbital fracture of the right eye that occurred when he was struck by a deflected Flyers shot in March 2013, Staal was concussed in a collision with his brother, Eric, in February 2011, and developed concussion symptoms last season.
Emelin, then with Montreal, also avoided any discipline for an elbow to the head of Stars forward Antoine Roussel in January 2017. He was fined but not suspended by the league's department of player safety the maximum $11,021.51 for his illegal hit to Brian Gionta's head in November 2014. He also was fined $5,000 in 2014 for butt-ending Canucks forward Pascal Pelletier.
The Rangers, who are last in the Metro Division with 30 games to play, are in a battle with the Blue Jackets, Flyers, Islanders and Hurricanes for the two wild-card berths in the East.
