When they return to the ice on Saturday afternoon, the New York Rangers will be without K’Andre Miller. The 24-year-old defenseman suffered an upper-body injury versus the Buffalo Sabres in Wednesday night’s win. He was placed on injured reserve by the team earlier today.

At the very least, Miller will miss at least the start of a three-game road trip which begins with a stop in St. Louis to face the Blues on Sunday night. The Rangers will also visit the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars.

The injury likely occured during the second period when Sabres forward Jordan Greenway finished a check on Miller that sent him awkwardly into the boards with less than 12 minutes left.

Miller didn’t miss a shift for the remainder of the period. However, he didn’t return for the third period. The Rangers relied heavily on Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox to pick up a much needed victory. Without Miller, Lindgren played over half the period. Braden Schneider finished with a shade over 20 minutes. Zac Jones and Victor Mancini each played just under 17 minutes.

Mackey to Fill In For Miller

With Miller sidelined, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette indicated that Connor Mackey will play in Miller’s spot tomorrow. The 28-year-old journeyman played in one game last season. In 22 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack, he has two goals and four assists for six points with 29 penalty minutes this season.

In his one appearance last season, Mackey dropped the gloves with Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk during the second period on Jan. 27. At the time, they were trailing the Senators 2-0. Following Mackey’s fight with one of the game’s toughest players, the Rangers responded by scoring the next seven goals to win 7-2. That included five straight goals in the second. They added a pair in the third for the final margin.

On a team that is lacking physicality and toughness, Mackey can supply it when he returns to the lineup. If it means taking Kings’ pest Tanner Jeannot off the ice, by all means. Jeannot loves to mix it up. He’ll finish checks and battle all comers. Considering how lethargic the Kings looked in a 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils that saw them only muster 12 shots, they’ll probably be in a foul mood.

It’s a good bet that Jeannot will look to spice things up. If he does, Mackey should be ready and willing to stick up for teammates.