Road trip will start without Staal

Marc Staal has been ruled out of the weekend back-to-back in Colorado on Saturday afternoon and Los Angeles on Sunday night that kicks off the Blueshirts’ fourgame western swing leading into the All-Star break.

As such, the Rangers will be obligated to summon a defenseman from the AHL Wolf Pack to serve as a spare in case one of the top six goes down before Staal, who left Tuesday’s victory over the Flyers after the first period with a hippointer, is fit for duty. The team can’t take the chance of being caught short if illness or injury strikes.

Lefty John Gilmour and righties Neal Pionk, Tony DeAngelo and Ryan Sproul are among the candidates for promotion. The left-right factor is not critical in the decision, as Rangers’ lefties Nick Holden and Brendan Smith are both able to play both sides.

Indeed, Smith, who has played his off-side for most of his tenure in New York, was on the left for Thursday night’s 4-3 Garden win over the Sabres on the $11 million third pair with Kevin Shattenkirk. Steven Kampfer took Staal’s spot in the lineup and played on Brady Skjei’s right side on the second pair.

Kevin Hayes’ status for the weekend remained uncertain in the aftermath of the center having missed his third straight game with a leg contusion he sustained in Las Vegas on Jan. 7 in the Blueshirts’ final game before their bye week. Hayes was able to play in the Jan. 13 contest against the Islanders, but has been sidelined since.

“Kevin skated this morning and we’ll have to see how he responds,” Vigneault said. “He’d have to practice Friday in order to play Saturday.”