Staal takes puck to face in Rangers’ win

Agencies/New York

New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal was struck near the eye by a deflected shot Tuesday in a frightening moment in the third period of the Rangers’ 4-2 NHL victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Staal departed the contest at 5:45 of the third after a slapshot by the Flyers’ Kimmo Timonen was deflected by Jakub Voracek.

The puck struck Staal, who plays without a visor, near his right eye. He crumpled to the ice bleeding profusely before he was led to the locker room.

Staal, who missed the first 36 games of last season after suffering a concussion, has two goals and nine assists in 21 games this lockout-shortened season.

“It’s a tough, tough one,” said Rangers right wing Rick Nash—who scored the go-ahead goal and the insurance goal in the third period.

“We’re hoping the best for him,” added Nash, although the team had no immediate update on Staal’s injury after the game.

Ryan Callahan notched two early scores for the Rangers, who were without Brad Richards after he was hurt on Sunday following an illegal check by Buffalo’s Patrick Kaleta.

Wayne Simmonds and Voracek scored power-play scores for the Flyers, who nevertheless fell below .500 (11-12-1).

Meanwhile, Scott Gomez and Adam Burish notched their first goals of the season and Joe Pavelski scored the shootout winner as the San Jose Sharks held on to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Tuesday night.

‘‘The win is the most important thing, but it does feel nice to score,’’ said Gomez, who has a goal and two assists in 15 games this season. ‘‘Obviously, it was time. I know I can score. It’s just you’ve got to shoot to score, and sometimes I have trouble with that. I’m always looking to pass.’’

Meanwhile, Burish scored his first goal in 45 games on a short-handed breakaway to make it 2-0 San Jose early in the second period.

‘‘If I start going out there thinking that I’ve got to score, I’m doing my linemates and my teammates a disservice,’’ Burish said. ‘‘I’ve got to focus on other things: I’ve got to be solid defensively, I’ve got to kill penalties, I’ve got to bring energy. But if you can score goals, it feels a little better, too.’’

Brad Stuart added two assists and Antti Niemi made 36 saves for the Sharks (11-6-4), who won their second straight game after a stretch that saw them go 2-6-4.

Henrik Sedin and Jannik Hansen scored for Vancouver, which dropped to 3-4-3 in its past 10 games after starting the season 8-2-2.

In the shootout, Logan Couture had to score in the third round or the Sharks would lose. Couture calmly deked to the backhand and beat Schneider between the legs.

After Niemi stopped Alex Burrows in the fourth round, Pavelski broke in and beat Schneider with a quick wrist shot to the blocker side to end it.

‘‘You’re always excited to win,’’ Pavelski said.

‘‘It’s not looking good there for a second, and then within a minute or two you’ve got a chance to win it. ... It’s going to take more than two probably most nights, but if we can get two or three it’s going to give us a good chance to win.’’