Rangers rookie goalie ‘pretty damn impressive’ in NHL debut: behind the numbers
To Dylan Garand’ s thinking, he already waited quite a while to make his NHL debut. So, what was another four days to finally get out there and start for the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets?
“I found out after our game last Wednesday that I was going to play Sunday. So, I was thinking all day, every day for the last four days, I’ve played a lot of games in the [American Hockey League], so just tried to treat it like any other game, and I think I did a good job of that,” Garand told reporters after debuting with the Rangers on Sunday.
“I’ve been kind of waiting to make my NHL debut my whole life … so, when they tell you that you’re actually going to play, it’s pretty cool. … I felt pretty ready for it.”
That the Rangers lost 3-2 in a shootout is more of an indictment of the team around him, than the rookie goaltender, who was named the game’s First Star. Garand made 35 saves, the third most by a Rangers goalie making his NHL debut in their 100-year history. Only Alexandar Georgiev (38 saves; Feb. 22, 2018,at the Montreal Canadiens) and Dan Blackburn (37 saves; Oct. 10, 2001 vs. the Washington Capitals) had more. Like Garand, each was on the losing side in his debut.
No save by Garand was more clutch than his poke-check to deny Kyle Connor on a short-handed breakaway at 11:10 of the second period with the Rangers trailing by a goal.
“I though ‘G’ played unbelievable. Happy for him. For his first start, that’s pretty damn impressive,” Rangers captain J.T. Miller said.
Garand stopped the final 19 shots he faced in regulation and overtime, after Gabe Vilardi’s power-play goal 6:23 into the second period gave the Jets a 2-1 lead. However, Connor and Vilardi scored in the shootout, and the Rangers’ Vincent Trocheck and Miller failed against Winnipeg goalie Eric Comrie to seal New York’s 42nd loss in this largely forgettable season (28-33-9).
“That was awesome. It was pretty surreal. I really just tried to be present and take it all in. It was everything you could ever hope and dream of. It sucks to not get the win for the guys, but it was a dream come true,” Garand stated.
Rangers coach believes Dylan Garand was ‘terrific’ in NHL debut
Garand got the call-up and start since Jonathan Quick is sidelined with a lower-body injury. It’s the second injury absence this season for the 40-year-old, whose NHL career is winding down. Garand appeared a bit annoyed earlier in the season when veteran Spencer Martin was recalled and shared the goaltending duties with Quick in New York for most of January, with No. 1 goalie Igor Shesterkin on IR with a lower-body injury.
An AHL All-Star a year ago, Garand is 16-15-2 with 2.83 goals-against average and .896 save percentage in 36 games with Hartford this season, his fourth in the minors. Though his play’s been questioned this season, Garand allowed three goals or fewer — and 25 total — in his final 11 starts before the Rangers recalled him earlier this past week.
His impressive performance Broadway debut certainly helps his stock moving forward, considering he’s a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at season’s end, and the Rangers may need a new No. 2 in New York with Quick’s future up in the air.
“I thought he was terrific,” coach Mike Sullivan said after the game. “I thought he looked really sold, had a calm demeanor in there, tracking pucks, rebound control was great. He made some big saves for us. I thought he had a really strong game.”
Behind the numbers of Rangers rookie Dylan Garand’s NHL debut
.946 – Garand’s save percentage after one NHL game (37 shots; 35 saves)
2 – Garand allowed two goals in 65 minutes of regulation and overtime. He then allowed two goals on two shots in the shootout.
2:51 – That’s how many minutes on the game clock expired before Garand recorded his first NHL save, reaching down to glove a left-wing wrister by Winnipeg’s Cole Koepke.
4 – Selected by the Rangers in the fourth round (No. 103 overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft, Garand was the fourth member of that draft class in New York’s lineup Sunday. He joined first-rounders Alexis Lafreniere (No. 1 overall) and Braden Schneider (No. 19 overall), and second-round pick Will Cuylle (No. 60 overall). A fifth member of that draft class, forward Matt Rempe, is currently on IR following thumb surgery.
7 – There were seven players in the Rangers lineup Sunday whom Garand previously played with in Hartford of the AHL: Jonny Brodzinski, Jaroslav Chmelar, Will Cuylle, Adam Edstrom, Connor Mackey, Gabe Perreault, and Matthew Robertson. That number doesn’t include Juuso Parssinen, who was a healthy scratch against the Jets. Garand also was teammates with Noah Laba and Matt Rempe, each of whom is injured.
13:06 – That’s the time of the first goal allowed by Garand in the NHL. Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry finished off a tic-tac-tow passing sequence with Gabe Vilardi and Cole Perfetti.
21 – Garand was the 21st goalie in Rangers history to make his NHL debut for them at Madison Square Garden. Of those, only six won their debut, most recently Shesterkin on Jan. 7, 2020, a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
33 – Garand became the 18th player to wear No. 33 on his Rangers sweater in a regular-season game, and the first since Philip DiGuseppe in the 2020-21 season. Other notables to wear No. 33 for the Rangers include forward Tony Amonte, defenseman Michal Rozsival, and goalies Cam Talbot, Bob Froese, Doug Soetart, and Gilles Gratton.
35 – Garand made 35 saves over 65 minutes in regulation and overtime. He stopped 10 of 11 shots in the first period; 13 of 14 in the second; all 11 shots in the third period; and the only one he faced in overtime.
66 – It was 66 months between when Garand was drafted by the Rangers (Oct. 7, 2020) and when he made his NHL debut.
148 – Garand played 148 games with Hartford of the American Hockey League before making his NHL debut.
