Vigneault shuffling lines with Hayes out

Only one game in over two months has Rangers coach Alain Vigneault had his full complement of forwards in tact. An MRI exam revealed that integral third-line center Kevin Hayes is set to miss two to three weeks with what is presumed to be a left-leg injury, suffered in the second period of the team’s 1-0 overtime victory against the Red Wings in Detroit on Sunday. His team’s Jan. 17 loss to the Stars was the only time since Nov. 12 when Vigneault had his full lineup of forwards.

“We’ve had injuries throughout our lineup, and every time we get excited about having a full lineup, something happens,” Vigneault said before his team’s 3-2 victory over the Kings on Monday night at the Garden.

Vigneault moved J.T. Miller into the middle to fill Hayes’ spot, bumping rookie Jimmy Vesey up from the fourth line to join him on the left while Michael Grabner switched to the right. Vesey had recently had his ice time cut as he went through some struggles, and finished the game with one attempted shot over 14:10.

After generating just nine shots through the first two periods, Vigneault came out in the third with new lines, having promoted Matt Puempel and Brandon Pirri while demoting Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich.

Puempel was playing in his first game since Dec. 31, when he suffered the second of two concussions within a month. He scored his sixth goal of the season when he finished a nice 2-on-1 with Derek Stepan to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead at 13:28 of the second.

Puemple joined Stepan and Zuccarello, while Pirri joined Mika Zibanejad and Rick Nash. Kreider and Buchnevich went down to the fourth line with center Oscar Lindberg.