Eric Lindros is officially day-to-day after sustaining the eighth concussion of his career and is spending the weekend resting in his Manhattan apartment.
There’s no chance he’ll play before the Rangers reconvene after next weekend’s All-Star break, so rest is his priority for the near future.
“We’ll see how he reacts over the next 48 hours and go from there,” coach Glen Sather said Friday. “You can’t even take a guess on these things. We’re just going to leave him alone for a couple of days. He doesn’t need any stress from me, to have to talk to me about how he feels. He’s better off alone for a while.”
There was no dire report from neurosurgeon Karen Johnston, who examined Lindros in Montreal on Thursday. Sather did not rule out her seeing Lindros again. “He trusts her,” Sather said.
Sather said everyone is feeling the strain of Lindros’ injury.
“They’ve been through a lot lately and the team is a little fragile,” he said. “We could use a boost of confidence … We can’t replace Eric really with anyone.”
In an oddly related twist, Capitals defenseman Jason Doig, whose clean hit Wednesday gave Lindros his latest concussion, was suspended for two games by the league for a knee-on-knee check to the Hurricanes’ Kevyn Adams on Thursday. Adams is out six to eight weeks.
Allison suspended
Nashville Predators defenseman Jamie Allison was suspended for one game without pay by the NHL on Friday, one day after arguing with a fan after receiving a 10-minute misconduct penalty during a win at Columbus.
The Predators were also fined $10,000. Allison will sit out Saturday’s game against San Jose.
RESULTS, FRIDAY’S SYNOPSIS
Blackhawks at Calgary, late
Coverage, Page 6
Buffalo 3 at N.Y. Rangers 1
Sabres’ Daniel Briere, Chris Drury each scored power-play goal. Dale Purinton scored 1st goal of season and 4th in 157-game career to pull Rangers within 2-1 in 2nd. N.Y. lost 6th of 7.
Toronto 4 at Atlanta 1
In just 7th start of season, goalie Trevor Kidd made 25 saves. After missing 7 games with sprained knee, Atlanta’s Marc Savard scored on 30-foot slapshot to tie game 1-1 in 2nd period.
San Jose 1 at Dallas 3
Jere Lehtinen’s goal with 2:49 remaining broke 1-1 tie, moving Dallas within 4 points of 1st-place San Jose. Vincent Damphousse scored for Sharks, 4-12-2 in last 18 against Stars.
Colorado at Anaheim, late
Avs’ Paul Kariya returned to Anaheim for 1st time since leaving as free agent in off-season. Ducks’ Steve Rucchin ended 10-game scoring drought with 2 goals Wed. Avs 12-1-2 in last 15.
