Igor Shesterkin fell awkwardly in his own crease during a scramble midway through the second period on Friday night, could not put weight on his right leg and was helped off the ice by two teammates. The Rangers lost 3-1 to Washington and have said nothing about a diagnosis.
He had made 13 saves on 14 shots in 28:20 of work. The loss ended a four-game New York win streak and dropped the Rangers to 4-2-0. Washington is 3-1-0.
What He Was Doing Before It Happened
This is why it matters. Shesterkin was 3-1-0 in four appearances with a .926 save percentage, a 1.75 goals-against average and 4.1 goals saved above expected. Those are Vezina numbers, and he has one, from 2021-22.
His career line is 190-108-28 with a .917 save percentage and a 2.51 goals-against average across 329 games, plus 23-20 with a .928 and a 2.41 in 44 playoff games. He is the reason the Rangers have been a contender for five years and he is the reason they can survive a thin blue line.
The Depth Chart Is a Disaster
Dylan Garand came in and gave up one goal on 12 shots, and he is now the short-term starter. Behind him, Joonas Korpisalo is week to week with a lower-body injury. Spencer Martin is day to day with a lower-body injury. Callum Tung, the organization’s fifth goalie, could back up Sunday against Vancouver.
Read that again. An injury to the starter has moved the fifth-string goaltender onto the NHL bench in week two of the season.
Mike Sullivan Had Nothing to Give
The head coach said he had no update on Shesterkin’s condition. On what the goalie means to the team, he offered the only thing available: “He’s a big part of this team, without a doubt.” On Korpisalo’s return, he said, “status quo.”
Nobody has graded the injury. No surgery has been reported, no timeline has been given, no games-missed estimate exists. Reports have only speculated that he could miss a significant stretch, and speculation is not a diagnosis.
Why This Is the Season
Be honest about where the Rangers sit. This is a team built to win on the strength of elite goaltending, and the margin between a playoff seed and a lottery pick for that kind of roster is one crease.
Four and two with a four-game win streak looked like a start. A Vezina winner being carried off in the second period, with the next three men on the depth chart hurt or in the minors, is the kind of event that decides a year in October.
New York will not know what it is dealing with until the team says so. Until then it is Garand, possibly Tung, and a lot of hoping.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
