At just 34 years old, former New York Rangers star Rick Nash is being forced to retire, it was announced on Friday.

Nash Retires After 15-Year Career

After suffering another concussion with the Boston Bruins last March and sitting out the postseason, he decided to not sign a contract as a free agent this summer. The six-time All-Star previously missed six weeks in 2013 with concussion symptoms while playing in New York.

In a statement from his agent Joe Resnick, Nash laid out why he chose to retire. The statement read: “Due to unresolved issues/symptoms from the concussion sustained last March, Rick Nash will be forced to retire from the game of hockey. Under the advice of his medical team, the risk of further brain injury is far too great if Rick returns to play. Rick would like to thank everyone who has supported him during this difficult time period.”

Nash called it quits on a 15-year career that began with being the No. 1 overall pick for the Columbus Blue Jackets. In 1,060 games, Nash would score 437 goals and 368 assists. Before his retirement, he was third among active players in goals scored. Only Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Marleau scored more. During the 2003-2004 season, Nash led the league with 41 goals.

Nash signed an eight-year, $62.4 million contract with the Blue Jackets in 2010. During the span of that deal, he’d be traded twice. First, he was shipped off to the Rangers in a six-player blockbuster trade in July 2012. Then, Nash was dealt to Boston as a free agency rental.

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Though he was a franchise star for Columbus, his time in New York had its ups and downs. Nash especially struggled in the postseason. In 73 games, he scored only 14 goals. His time with the Bruins included three goals and three assists in 11 regular-season games and three goals and two assists in 12 playoff games.

Some thought Nash would sit out summer free agency and then join a team to ring chase once it became clear who was in the title contention. Resnick denied that was the case last summer.

“Rick has the utmost ethics and integrity,” he told ESPN. “We turned down a lot of money. Let’s put it that way.”

After losing the first two games of the Eastern Conference second round series, the New York Rangers rebounded to defeat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

NHL Playoffs Round 2 Highlights: Predators Top Blues 2-1 in Game 4

Four different Rangers scored, and among the best goals was Rick Nash’s. As New York led 2-0 in the second period thanks to goals from Mats Zuccarello and Michael Grabner, Nash took a pass from Derek Stepan on a two-on-one at 12:21 and fired a wrist-shot from the left circle to beat net-minder Craig Anderson and put the hosts up 3-0 with his third goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Oscar Lindberg then gave the Rangers a 4-0 lead by one-timing a feed from J.T. Miller across the crease at 1:43 of the second for his first NHL postseason goal.

The Rangers trail the Round 2 series 2-1. New York squandered a two-goal lead late in the third period of Game 2 in Ottawa on Saturday to lose 6-5 in double-overtime.

Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for the Rangers, who will host the Senators again for Game 4 on Thursday at 7:30 pm EST. Anderson also stopped 26 shots.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the Senators’ lone goal, his sixth of the playoffs, 32 seconds after Lindberg found the back of the net. Pageau received a backhand pass from behind the net by Bobby Ryan and one-timed a shot past Lundqvist.

Ryan left the game with 12:37 remaining due to a lower-body injury.

Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators defeated the St. Louis Blues 2-1 at home on Tuesday to take a 3-1 Western Conference Semifinals series lead. James Neal scored the game-winning goal with 6:57 remaining, and Pekka Rinne finished with 32 saves for the Predators, who are just one victory away from reaching their Conference final for the first time in franchise history. Nashville won its eighth straight postseason game at home.

Ryan Ellis gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 5:09 of the third period with a power-play goal. Ellis shot the puck off a rebound following a scrum for the puck near the goal.

Joel Edmundson netted the Blues’ lone goal with 3:49 remaining. St. Louis coach Mike Yeo pulled net-minder Jake Allen late, but the Blues were unable to score again. Allen had 23 saves.

Nashville’s P.K. Subban was handed an embellishment minor after Edmundson struck him in the head, leading Subban to crash into the boards and fall to the ice, where he lay for a few moments. Subban’s helmet flew off, while Edmundson also tumbled to the ice but quickly got back up.

The Blues will host the Predators for Game 5 Friday night.

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 02: Rick Nash #61 of the New York Rangers scores against the Ottawa Senators at 12:21 of the second period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 2, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

After a 3-1 loss on Sunday, the New York Rangers rebounded to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 at home Tuesday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round thanks to goals from Rick Nash and Jesper Fast.

NHL Playoffs: Rangers Beat Canadiens 3-1 In Game 4, Tie First-Round Series 2-2

With the win, the Rangers have evened the series 2-2 and snapped a six-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday at Montreal.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23 shots for New York.

“It was our best home game [of the series], for sure,” said Nash, who scored the game-winning goal early in the second period. “It was a tough couple of days after Game 3 (a 3-1 loss on Sunday), and we knew we needed to come with a good effort. I still think the third period could be a bit better, we could create more. But you’ve got to give them a little credit too. They came hard.”

Torrey Mitchell scored for the Canadiens, who nearly tied it up when Shea Weber’s slap shot from the left circle hit the post with 1:18 left. Carey Price made 30 saves for Montreal.

“They were desperate tonight,” the Habs goalie said. “They executed a pretty good game plan. You have to give that team credit; they played well tonight.”

Unlike in Games 2 and 3, the Rangers outshot the Canadiens 32-24 on Tuesday, and the results of New York’s greater effort showed.

Fast put the Rangers up 1-0 at 11:39 of the first period. Brady Skjei hit the puck around the boards and it bounced off the stick of Montreal defenseman Andrei Markov and in front of Fast, who tapped the puck between Price’s pads for his first goal of the postseason.

“I think we just forced passes tonight,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. “We weren’t as good tonight as we were [Sunday] night. I thought that we were forcing things more than just managing the puck better, and that resulted in a lot of icings. Same thing on the faceoffs; we had a lot of draws on our own hand, so we needed to manage the puck better tonight.”

Michell then got his own first goal of the playoffs to tie it 1-1 for Montreal with 1:23 remaining in the first period. The center one-timed a pass by Weber from the left circle to beat Lundqvist. Mitchell’s goal came after Alexander Radulov won a puck battle against Skjei at the Rangers blue line and delivered a no-look backhand pass to set up Mitchell and Weber on a two-on-one.

Nash’s tie-breaking goal came on an assist from Ryan McDonagh. Nash cut to the net and fired a backhand shot past Price at 4:28 of the second period for his second goal of the playoffs.

“I saw a hole to the net right away,” Nash said. “I haven’t seen the replay; I don’t know if I beat the guy off the wall or if he kind of cheated out, I’m not sure. But right away, I thought I had a lane. Once I took to my backhand, I saw the five-hole kind of open up.”

Lundqvist made a brilliant glove save with 9:11 left in the first period. The Rangers goalie blocked Andrew Shaw’s wrist shot on a breakaway following Alex Galchenyuk pass through the neutral zone. Lundqvist’s save came less than a minute before Fast’s goal.

The Rangers were 0-for-2 on the power play and are 0-for-12 in the series. The Canadiens were 0-for-3. Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich played his first-ever NHL Playoff game. Tanner Glass was a healthy scratch. Defenseman Nick Holden played after being a healthy scratch for Game 3. Holden replaced Kevin Klein.

Game 5 is set for Thursday at 7 pm EST in Montreal.

After trailing 2-0 by the end of the first period, the New York Rangers rallied back and Rick Nash, Michael Grabner and J.T. Miller each scored a goal in the second en route to a 5-2 victory over the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Monday night.

Rangers Rally From Two Down To Beat Penguins 5-2

The Rangers (14-5-1) lead the Penguins (11-5-3) by four points atop the Metropolitan Division.

“This was a really strong team effort, I felt,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “I thought after the first period, we settled down. We started playing better away from the puck and gave them less rush opportunities. … That’s a real strong team, but we were able to do what we had to do to get the job done tonight.”

Kevin Hayes and Derek Stepan also scored for New York.

Penguins forward Jake Guentzel scored twice in his NHL debut. Guentzel, who played left wing, gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead on a wrist shot 1:02 into the game.

His goal was the fastest scored by a Penguins player making his debut, beating forward Rick Kessell (2:19 on March 21, 1970).

“It’s a dream come true to play here,” Guentzel said. “Obviously you have a little bit of nerves at the start and you just try to get them out early, so with the goal I think it helped a little bit.”

He pushed the lead to 2-0 with 6:48 remaining in the first after Evgeni Malkin tipped a shot from Phil Kessel on goalie Antti Raanta, who made 29 saves for the Rangers and is 5-0-0 this season. Guentzel shot the rebound over the goal line.

With forwards Chris Kunitz (lower body) and Patric Hornqvist (concussion) injured, the Penguins recalled Guentzel from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Monday morning. He led Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with 17 points and seven goals in 16 games this season.

Nash cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 2-1 5:31 into the second, after Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz slid to block Nash’s attempted cross-crease pass to Stepan. Nash shot over goalie Marc-Andre Fleury’s glove.

Grabner tied it 2-2 with 5:37 left in the second with his 12th goal, which tied Penguins forward Sidney Crosby and Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine for the NHL-lead, and Miller made it 3-2 on a shorthanded goal with 48.5 seconds remaining in the period.

Hayes scored with 7:44 remaining in the third period to push the lead to 4-2. Stepan scored an empty-net goal with 1:23 left.

The two teams will next face off again in New York on Wednesday night.

PITTSBURGH, PA – NOVEMBER 21: Michael Grabner #40 of the New York Rangers puts the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG PAINTS Arena on November 21, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Matt Kincaid/Getty Images)