NEW YORK _ Artemi Panarin played in each of the first 47 games of the season for the Rangers, but that streak is coming to an end.
Panarin missed Monday's practice with an upper-body injury and did not play in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the rival Islanders at Madison Square Garden.
It came as a bit of a surprise.
Following Monday's practice, Rangers coach David Quinn called it "a maintenance day" and indicated that Panarin would play Tuesday.
When asked prior to the game if the injury had been affecting Panarin's play, Quinn said, "Maybe a little bit."
The 28-year-old has been a godsend since signing a seven-year, $81.5 million contract this offseason. He leads the team with 68 points (26 goals and 42 assists) and was selected to his first NHL all-star game.
It's unclear if Panarin will still participate in the all-star game, which will take place Saturday in St. Louis.
Predictably, the Rangers (23-21-4) had trouble generating goals without Panarin.
They had their chances, outshooting the Islanders by a wide margin of 43-18, but couldn't find their finishing touch until late in the contest.
Meanwhile, the Isles seemed to take advantage of every opportunity.
The Rangers entered the game having successfully killed 22 of their last 24 penalties, but they went 0 for 2 in the first period.
A high-sticking call on Ryan Strome resulted in a tip-in goal for Josh Bailey and hooking penalty on Brady Skjei turned into a slot goal from Anthony Beauvillier.
The Islanders made it 3-0 halfway through the second period on an even-strength goal from Anders Lee.
Shortly thereafter, the Rangers appeared to cut the deficit back down to two goals when Strome chased down his own rebound and put it in. But a challenge from the Islanders showed that the Rangers had been offsides prior to the goal, reversing the call and keeping the score at 3-0.
The Isles made it 4-0 early in the third period, with Bailey threading a pass in front of the Rangers' net to Brock Nelson for the goal.
The Rangers rallied a bit too late with two power-play goals in the final 6:13.
Pavel Buchnevich scored the first with 6:13 remaining, tipping in a wrist shot from Adam Fox, and the second came from Chris Kreider.
Mika Zibanejad assisted on both goals to increase his season total to 39 points (18 goals and 21 assists) in 35 games played.
