Alain Vigneault furious with league for lack of Wayne Simmonds response

Well, this was bound to happen soon enough.

After New York Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh missed the remainder of Saturday's game following his first-period skirmish with Wayne Simmonds — a skirmish that unjustly saw the 'Wayne Train' receive a game misconduct — the team announced Monday that McDonagh will miss time with a concussion.

Via Andrew Gross of the Bergen (N.J.) Record, coach Alain Vigneault was furious at losing his captain for an extended period of time, and even more livid that Simmonds received no supplemental discipline.

“I had a feeling he had a concussion,” Vigneault said. “We weren’t 100 percent sure. He had some symptoms.

“What I didn’t expect was the reaction from the league. An All-Star player gets sucker-punched, goes down. I wonder if that’s (Sidney) Crosby, what happens? What are the consequences? And, on top of that, a player breaks his stick, throws it at the referees. In the rulebook, that’s automatic. It’s three games. Nothing happens. It’s not even on the sheet after the game.

“And the referee came to me and I said, ‘Am I getting a power play here?’ and he said, ‘No, he’s getting a game misconduct for throwing his stick at us,’” Vigneault continued. “And it’s not on the sheet. I think maybe you guys (the media) should call the league and find out what happened because obviously we’re getting different answers.”

Vigneault is also peeved about those who believe McDonagh sold the punch to his face, and undermined the concussion that he suffered as a result.

Vigneault was also upset about reports that the Flyers believe McDonagh embellished his injury.

“Tell them to go see him (McDonagh) at his house today,” Vigneault said.

Apparently, gaining two points in the shootout wasn't enough for Vigneault, but losing a key cog of their defense like McDonagh won't help the Rangers — who already haven't been looking like the strong team that opened the 2015-16 season. Nonetheless, this will provide an interesting storyline when both teams meet this Sunday to cap off their season series.

Rob Riches is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @Riches61