New York Rangers Daily: Igor Shesterkin injury blow to begin New Year, Cam Fowler outdoor heroics
Of course 2024 had to deliver the New York Rangers one more kick in the gut before giving way to 2025.
In the midst of their worst stretch of hockey in memory, the Rangers, 4-15-0 in their past 19 games and last in the Metropolitan Division, lost again Tuesday. And they didn’t even play a game on New Year’s Eve.
But they did lose No. 1 goalie Igor Shesterkin for at least the rest of the week with an upper-body injury. Placed on injured reserve, Shesterkin must miss at least three games, which means the earliest he can return is next Tuesday, Jan. 7, against the Dallas Stars at MSG.
Even though the 29-year-old is struggling with his game — just like the Rangers as a whole — Shesterkin is a fairly invaluable member of their roster. He is 11-15-1 with a 3.10 goals-against average and .906 save percentage, the worst numbers of his stellar six-year NHL career. He’s allowed four or more goals in 10 of his 27 starts and was pulled in two of his past six starts.
But Shesterkin is still one of the best goalies in the world — and the Rangers’ most important player. There’s no two ways about this; it’s another blow for the Blueshirts.
Having Jonathan Quick available to step into the starting role softens the blow somewhat. The three-time Stanley Cup champion who’s two victories away from become the 15th goalie in NHL history to win 400 games is a solid option to fill Shesterkin’s skates for the time being.
That’s especially so if Shesterkin misses just a few games. If this is a prolonged absence, there would be concerns about how Quick’s play holds up at age 38.
The Rangers are back at practice in New York on Wednesday. So let’s see if coach Peter Laviolette shares more information on Shesterkin’s condition.
CLICK HERE to shop at the Forever Blueshirts store
New York Rangers news
Let’s start here with our breakdown of what’s next for the Rangers in the wake of Shesterkin’s injury.
As for the bigger picture of what’s going on with the Rangers, there’s the Rink Rap podcast, which was recorded hours before the Shesterkin news. Here’s a link to the Forever Blueshirts YouTube page and here’s a link to the audio-only podcast. Give it a listen!
Timed for the calendar flipping to 2025, we have our suggested New Year’s resolutions for the Rangers.
We also take a look back at the Top 10 Rangers moments in 2024. And before you get snarky, yes there were good things that happened with this team in the previous calendar year!
Top Rangers prospect Gabe Perreault was held off the score sheet again, but the United States was still able to defeat Canada 4-1 to finish first in Group A with 10 points (3-0-1-0) at the 2025 World Junior Championship in Ottawa. Rangers defenseman prospect Drew Fortescue logged 18:56 TOI and was plus-1 for the U.S. Next up for Team USA is a quarterfinal game against Switzerland, and another Rangers prospect, forward Rico Gredig.
NHL news
Not a bad New Year’s Eve for Cam Fowler. The 33-year-old became the first defenseman to score two goals in an outdoor NHL game, and did so in his 1,000th game in the League, helping lead the St. Louis Blues to a convincing 6-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.
On the same night the Colorado Avalanche finally got forward Jonathan Drouin back in the lineup following his second upper-body injury of the season, forward Valeri Nichushkin was knocked out of their 5-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets with a lower-body injury.
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was placed on IR with an upper-body injury. The move was made to add another player to the roster and Matthews can be activated at any time. He’s been practicing with the Maple Leafs, who defeated the Islanders 3-1 on Tuesday.
Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon left their 5-3 win against the Nashville Predators in the second period after being the victim of a slewfoot and falling awkwardly into the boards.
Don’t look now but the Montreal Canadiens have won three in a row and are back to NHL .500 with a 17-17-3 record. Cole Caufield scored his 100th NHL goal in a 3-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Todd McLellan won his 600th game as an NHL coach when the Detroit Red Wings doubled up the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2. With that win, the Red Wings moved past the Rangers in the standings, dropping New York to 15th in the 16-team Eastern Conference.
Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 12 games and passed Mark Messier for third place on the Edmonton Oilers’ all-time scoring list (1,036 points) in a 4-1 home win against the Utah Hockey Club.
More About:New York Rangers News
Read This Next
