Suffering a broken jaw sidelined New York Rangers center Derek Stepan for Game 4, but apparently he received clearance to play in Game 5. He’ll suit up for the Rangers as they attempt to eliminate the Canadiens in Montreal on Tuesday.
Much was made of the Brandon Prust hit that injured Stepan, with the former Rangers forward expressing regret about hurting his friend while Danny Briere professed more than a little bit of doubt about the validity of Stepan’s injury.
It was obviously enough to sideline Stepan for one big game, so does that just leave it half-fishy? Will the Canadiens try to target that jaw? Do people retract their mockery of Briere or is it just a wash? There are so many questions, yet we’ll have to wait for the answers.
If you’re wondering how the Rangers will line up with the 23-year-old forward back in the mix, here’s an early look:
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#NYR: Kreider-Stepan-Nash Hagelin-Richards-St. Louis Pouliot-Brass-Zucc Boyle-DMoore-Dorsett; McDonagh-Girard Staal-Stralman JMoore-Klein
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) May 27, 2014
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Consider how the past few days have gone for Stepan and it would be remarkable if he was his usual top-center self, although stranger things have happened in the playoffs:
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Broken jaw Friday. Operation and plate put in jaw Saturday. Out of hospital Sunday. On a plane Monday. Game day Tuesday. #Stepansjaw #nyr
— Brian Wilde (@BWildeMTL) May 27, 2014
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