The news comes after Ludqvist was held out of Thursday's contest against the Carolina Hurricanes with the same ailment.
In turn, the Rangers have recalled goaltender Magnus Hellberg from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis.
With just over four weeks remaining in the season and the Rangers just four points out of third place in the Metropolitan Division, the injury comes at a bad time.
Lundqvist has amassed a team-high 30 wins in 49 games, accompanied by a 2.65 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage this season.
The return of Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov to the Florida Panthers' lineup appeared to be the missing ingredient in the hunt for a playoff berth, but the club is now in the midst of a colossal slide.
Thanks to a 7-4 drubbing at the hands of the Minnesota Wild on Friday night, the club has now gone 1-6-1 in its last eight games and has fallen six points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The timing of the skid could not be worse and, as the underlying numbers show, it's the club's play at even strength and the lackluster performances by their goaltenders that have hurt the team most.
A look at special teams play over the last eight games would suggest the Panthers are having some success, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
Since Feb. 22, the Panthers have produced eight power play goals with a success rate of 34.8 percent, good enough for second league-wide. Meanwhile, the team's penalty kill has been perfect, not conceding a single goal in the 19 times they've been short-handed. The team has also fired 308 shots at the opposition over that stretch, also good for the second-most over that span.
Here's where things start to go south.
During the club's eight-game stretch, they have managed to score just 16 goals while giving up 27, both the fourth-worst marks in the league.
What's worse is when you factor in the eight power play goals and the lone short-handed goal, you're left with just seven goals scored at even strength in eight games - certainly not a winning recipe.
- Among goalies who have played at least three games
Besides Luongo's goals-against average through his last three starts, the totals for both goalies have been far below their season averages - though, in their defense, the club has also given up a total of 278 shots against (the fourth-most over that span) or an average of nearly 35 per game.
It certainly hasn't been an easy ride for the Panthers of late, but if one thing is clear, it's that for all that is going wrong, there is still a lot going right. The faults appear to be team-wide, so if they hope to turn it around it will take a group effort to get the club back on track.
Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby each had an impact for their clubs during their Friday night tilt, but neither emerged as the true game-changer during the shootout affair.
Netminder Marc-Andre Fleury took those honors, turning aside 40-of-42 shots and coming up with more than a few exceptionally clutch saves in overtime to keep his team alive.
Twice during the extra frame, Edmonton seemed moments away from closing it out, with clear shots at open cages and clear-cut breakaways.
Pittsburgh's veteran netminder shut the door, however, at one point coming up with a timely stop on a wide-open Ryan Nugent-Hopkins:
He also stymied McDavid on a wide-open breakaway chance, keeping Pittsburgh's hopes for a win intact:
The 32-year-old stood tall in the shootout as well, quashing the Oilers' first two attempts from Leon Draisaitl and Mark Letestu. McDavid nearly brought his club back with a tally on Edmonton's third attempt, but it wasn't enough, as Crosby and Phil Kessel both converted to earn Pittsburgh the win.
Fleury's performance served as yet another piece of evidence that general manager Jim Rutherford was wise to keep him at the trade deadline, the veteran netminder putting on an exceptional display to keep Pittsburgh in the win column with starter Matt Murray taking the night off.
Given Edmonton's 42 shots, and a stellar effort by their young captain - McDavid finished with a power-play goal, a shootout tally, and nine total shots - it's fair to assume Pittsburgh may have been on the losing end of the tilt had they traded Fleury away, leaving them with a lesser back-up option.
Luckily for Crosby and Co., Rutherford stood pat, leaving Pittsburgh with a fighting chance even with Murray on the bench.
Patrick Kane looked inward after the Blackhawks came up short in their final visit to Joe Louis Arena.
“Last game at the Joe, you think you’d have a lot of jump and energy,” he told reporters, according to the Chicago Sun-Times' Mark Lazerus.
“So it was frustrating. … It probably falls on myself tonight. A lot of bad turnovers and plays, and missed coverage in our end. And being on (the ice) for four goals against isn’t good enough. I’ve got to be better than that.”
Kane was on the ice for - and helped facilitate - Artemi Panarin's goal that opened the scoring on the Blackhawks' first shot less than five minutes into the game, but he finished with only two shots on goal and was Chicago's third-worst forward in terms of even-strength Corsi For at 40 percent, according to Corsica Hockey.
After reeling off seven straight victories, the Blackhawks have now lost two straight games. Chicago was shut out by the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
After opening the scoring just 12 seconds into their matchup with the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night, the Blues finished things off in similar fashion, netting the game-winner with 20 seconds remaining in the tilt.
Joel Edmundson potted the decisive goal, capitalizing off a tremendous rush that saw fellow defender Robert Bortuzzo burst into Anaheim's zone, side step a check, and dish a cross-ice feed to the eventual scorer.
The 4-3 victory was the Blues' third straight win, leaving them in the second Western Conference wild-card spot with 73 points.
Howard saw his first NHL action since injuring a knee Dec. 20 at Tampa Bay.
Tatar scored what proved to be the winner late in the second period and added an insurance goal in the third period to end Detroit's three-game losing streak. He has a team-high 17 goals.
The Blackhawks lost for the second straight night and had their club-record road winning streak end at eight games. Trevor Van Riemsdyk and Artemi Panarin scored for Chicago.
The Blackhawks opened the scoring at 4:23 of the first period on an impressive display of skill by Panarin and Patrick Kane. Just outside the Detroit zone, Panarin slid a backhand pass through defenseman Danny DeKeyser's legs to Kane, who carried the puck into the Detroit end. Kane zipped a quick cross-ice pass to a closing Panarin and he drove a one-timer past Howard.
Detroit tied it with 3:35 left in the period. Using Tatar as a screen, Ouellet drove a rising shot from the point past goalie Corey Crawford for his third goal of the season.
With only eight seconds to play in the second, Detroit regained the lead. Athanasiou accepted a drop pass from Nick Jensen and zipped a low shot by Crawford, who was again screened by Tatar.
The Wings increased their lead to 3-1 15:17 into the second period. Gus Nyquist carried the puck into the Chicago zone and dropped a pass to Henrik Zetterberg. Crawford stopped Zetterberg's shot but Tatar was on the doorstep to smack the rebound home.
A low point shot by Van Riemsdyk beat Howard on the stick side with just 44.3 seconds left in the second period to narrow Detroit's advantage to a goal.
Tatar completed the scoring at 15:31 of the third period. Nyquist forced a turnover along the boards and fed the puck to Zetterberg. He relayed it to Tatar in the high slot and he whipped a shot past Crawford.
NOTES: Including this game, Chicago will close out the regular season with 16 games over a 30-day span. ... Facing his former Detroit teammates for the first time, left-winger Tomas Jurco skated on a line with Marian Hossa and Marcus Kruger. ... Saying he was unhappy with his play in recent games, Detroit coach Jeff Blashill made rookie right winger Anthony Mantha, tied for second on the team with 14 goals, a healthy scratch . . . Defenseman Robbie Russo and forward Mitch Callahan made their Joe Louis Arena debuts as Red Wings . . . The Van Riemsdyk family has scored twice on the Wings this week. Trevor's older brother, James, scored for Toronto in the Maple Leafs' 3-2 win over the Red Wings on Tuesday night.
UP NEXT:
Blackhawks: Welcome the Minnesota Wild to the United Center on Sunday in a potential showdown for first place in the Central Division.
"I thought he would take the hit," Sestito told reporters Friday. "It happens quick out there. They analyze it frame by frame, and it looks like I could have changed directions, but in my mind, I thought he saw it coming."
The Penguins forward wished Enstrom a speedy recovery but said his opponent had a responsibility to be more aware prior to the hit.
"I think the onus has to be on the player with the puck (to) know where you are on the boards," Sestito said. "The players have to (make an effort to) avoid (going) into the boards, but he made eye contact with me so he knew I was coming."
Sesito was suspended four games Thursday for the incident, which occurred Wednesday night, and Jets head coach Paul Maurice announced Friday that Enstrom will be out indefinitely with the head injury.
"It's not a fun thing to go through, especially when you see a guy get hurt, you don't want to see that," Sestito said. "It's a long process. That 24 hours seemed like it took three days, but I got through it. I'll sit my time out and hopefully get back to playing."
Sestito was called up Wednesday ahead of the highly anticipated rematch following a testy previous meeting between the two clubs. That game included a headshot by Evgeni Malkin on Blake Wheeler that didn't garner supplemental discipline.
It was Sestito's ninth NHL game of the season, and his first with the Penguins since Nov. 16.
Scratch Connor McDavid's name off the list of potential Selke Trophy nominees.
The Oilers phenom had a rare inglorious moment during Friday night's tilt against the Penguins, as his clearing attempt bounced off goaltender Cam Talbot and into Edmonton's net. The own goal was officially credited to Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin.
McDavid began the game with a near goal on a vintage cut through the offensive zone, but plays like the one above left Edmonton trailing 2-0 after the first period.