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In the past few days, the top defensive pairing of the New York Rangers has completely changed due to an injury and a trade.

Still within striking distance in a crowded Eastern Conference race for one of two wild-card spots, the Rangers will play their first game since trading Ryan Lindgren when they host the Nashville Predators on Sunday night.

The Rangers face a four-point deficit behind the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild-card spot with 23 games to play. New York also trails three other teams in a race where six teams are five-points-or-less out.

New York put itself below the playoff line with a 4-15-0 stretch from Nov. 21-Dec. 30 that featured several lopsided losses. The Rangers used a 7-0-3 stretch from Jan. 5-23 but are a middling 5-6-0 since.

On Friday, the Rangers played their first game since losing Adam Fox to an upper-body injury after the offensive-minded defenseman fell on his shoulder in a 5-1 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

The Rangers paired Lindgren with Braden Schneider on Friday in a 3-2 loss to the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. New York allowed a power-play goal less than two minutes into the contest, then Mika Zibanejad and Will Cuylle scored tying goals on a night when the Rangers held a 35-17 edge in shots on goal and went 0-for-3 on the power play.

“This one stings,” Zibanejad said. “In the other games, I don’t really care if we have 15 shots just as long as we win.”

Less than 24 hours later, the Rangers traded pending unrestricted free agents Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey to the Colorado Avalanche for veteran defenseman Calvin de Haan and center Juuso Parinen along with two draft picks.

The Rangers also will be without Chris Kreider for the fourth straight game, and he is expected to go on injured reserve with an upper-body injury that may be related to an earlier back ailment.

Nashville is well out of the playoff race in the Western Conference and traded Gustav Nyquist to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, also losing 7-4 to the Islanders.

The Predators lost for the third time in four games and dropped to 3-9-0 in the past 12 games since putting together a five-game winning streak from Jan. 14-23. Nashville has allowed at least five goals five times during its latest slide and gave up seven for the third time this season.

Nashville allowed three goals in the first period on Saturday, when it was outshot 19-3.

“We just didn’t start on time,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “Way too much in the first period. We dug in and played better in the second and third, and we had a handful of guys that played really well, and the rest of the guys were passengers. It’s a hard league to win in when it goes that way.”

Cole Smith scored twice, and Marc Del Gaizo scored his first career goal, but Steven Stamkos was on the ice for three even-strength goals and saw his points drought reach 12 games.

–Field Level Media