The New York Rangers announced today defenseman Marek Malik was placed on the injured reserve due to a shoulder that was suffered in last night’s game vs. Toronto.

The 31 year-old was paired with Michal Rozsival and played on the top line with Jaromir Jagr. Rozsival was scratched last night due to a knee sprain sustained in Boston on Monday, but is expected back in a few days.

Because Malik was placed on the injured reserve so quickly, the shoulder is probably debilitated, yet no work from the Rangers about the severity of the injury.

This season, he has recorded 11 assists along with a plus-18 rating in 43 games with the Rangers this season. The 6-6, 240-pound defenseman currently leads the Blueshirts and is tied for 16^th in the league with a plus-18 rating.

To replace him, the Rangers called up 24 year-old Bryce Lampman from Hartford. In 42 games, he has five goals and 10 assists for 15 points, along with a plus-six rating and 48 penalty minutes.

The 6-1, 205-pound defenseman notched a goal and an assist in Hartford’s 4-3 overtime win over Houston on Saturday, January 27 and has now picked up two goals and three assists in the last four games. He currently ranks second on the Wolf Pack in plus/minus (plus-six) and third among team defensemen with 15 points.

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In other news, Brendan Shanahan has been spared any punishment from the NHL after criticizing the referees last night.

“We don't muzzle our players," NHL vice president Colin Campbell said earlier today to TSN.ca. "We're not happy that Brendan Shanahan chose to be critical of our officials but he is, within limits, free to say what he wants.

"Brendan is a veteran player and has been in our league a long time. If he feels this criticism will help him or his teammates or his team, that it might give them an edge or that it just needed to be said, that's up to him. But I can say that our referees aren't going to change the way they call the game because of criticism from anyone. Our referees have a great deal of integrity and they call the game as they see it.”

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