Rangers lose Igor Shesterkin to injury, fall 3-2 in OT to Utah: Takeaways
The New York Rangers lost more than a game when the Utah Mammoth rallied for a 3-2 overtime victory at Madison Square Garden on Monday night – they might’ve also lost their No. 1 goalie.
Sean Durzi tapped Nick Schmaltz’s pass behind Jonathan Quick 1:06 into OT for the win in a game the Rangers led 1-0 and 2-1. The NHL’s newest franchise is now 3-1-0 against the Rangers, with all three wins in overtime.
But the point the Rangers (20-18-6) lost in comparison to the loss of starting goaltender Igor Shesterkin to a first-period injury.
The game was scoreless 13 minutes in when Shesterkin fell back into his net following a slight collision with Mammoth forward J.J. Peterka. He made a right-pad save as Peterka drove hard down the middle of the ice; the rebound eluded Peterka, who jammed on the brakes to best avoid a collision with the Rangers netminder at the top of the blue paint.
Shesterkin awkwardly fell backward, appeared to be screaming in pain and had to be helped off the ice with a lower-body injury. He didn’t put any weight on his left leg, even though it was untouched by Peterka. The Rangers announced before the start of the second period that Shesterkin wouldn’t return.
”It’s tough,” said center Mika Zibanejad, who assisted on both Rangers goals. “It’s bad, especially because of what he’s done for us and what he means to us.”
Coach Mike Sullivan said Shesterkin was being evaluated for a lower-body injury but offered no other details.
“He’s an important part of this team,” the coach said. “Hopefully, it’s not too serious. … They’re gonna do more tests.”
Luckily for the Rangers, they have one of the NHL’s best backup goaltenders in Quick, who was sharp and had no chance on any of Utah’s three goals. He stopped a number of Grade A chances, beginning with one on a breakaway against Peterka shortly after taking over for Shesterkin.
Quick also may have lit a fire under his teammates early in the second period when he took exception to Utah’s Daniil But backing into him. Quick went after But and started a mini-melee behind the Rangers net. Each received a minor penalty – But for goaltender interference and Quick for roughing. However, the altercation energized the Garden crowd, and the Rangers picked up their play.
The Blueshirts capitalized on their first power play when Alexis Lafreniere finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play by tapping Zibanejad’s perfect pass behind Karel Vejmelka at 8:29 for a 1-0 lead. Adam Fox started the play by keeping the puck in at the right point, From there, it went quickly to Artemi Panarin and then to Zibanejad, His pass was right on the stick of Lafreniere for an easy goal.
Guenther tied the game 1-1 at 12:38 after the Rangers failed to get the puck deep. Ian Cole broke up a play at the Utah blue line and sent Guenther flying down left wing. Quick stopped the Mammoth’s top goal-scorer’s first shot, but Guenther got his own rebound and zipped it high into the net.
The power play struck again for the Rangers at 16:36. With New York skating 5-on-3, Panarin took a long straightaway shot through traffic that was tipped by Vincent Trocheck and went past Vejmelka, who never saw it.
New York skated off with a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes, but Utah got even 6:15 into the third period after the Rangers again failed to get the puck deep. Mammoth defenseman John Marino broke up a dump-in and spring Michael Carcone, who blew past defenseman Urho Vaakanainen in the Rangers zone, swept in front and stuffed the puck past Quick’s right pad to make it 2-2.
Utah kept Quick busy for the next several minutes, dominating play while allowing the Blueshirts just one shot on goal through the first 14 minutes of the period. But the Rangers finally began some zone time of their own and earned a power play when Durzi was called for hooking Zibanejad with 3:14 remaining. They had plenty of zone time but couldn’t convert.
Key takeaways after Rangers lose Shesterkin, drop 3-2 OT decision to Mammoth
How long will Shesterkin be out?
Quick turns 40 later this month, and the winningest U.S.-born goalie will end up in the Hockey Hall of Fame not long after his career ends. But he’s past the stage in his career when he can handle the starter’s role for any length of time. The Rangers hope Shesterkin isn’t out for long, but Quick said he’s ready to step up and carry the load.
“Have his back, plain and simple,” he said. “Anywhere on the ice, when your guys go down, you need guys to step up. Step up as a group. Have their backs.”
Quick has had at least five days between each of his 10 starts this season, his third with the Rangers. Sullivan didn’t appear worried about having him handle the No. 1 role.
“In my mind, he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” he said. “Quickie is a fierce competitor and still an excellent goalie.”
Expect the Rangers to recall Dylan Garand from Hartford of the AHL before their home game against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. Garand backed up Shesterkin earlier this season when Quick was hurt, but he’s never played in an NHL game.
With Fox back, power play is on a roll
If there was ever any doubt about how much Fox means to the Rangers, just look at the power play’s success since he returned to the lineup last Wednesday in Washington.
Fox’s 4 1/2-week absence with an upper-body injury left the first power-unit in a fog. His return has coincided with a revival – the Rangers have scored five goals with the extra man in three games since his return.
He scored on the Rangers’ only power-play opportunity in a 6-3 loss to the Capitals on New Year’s Eve, then was on the ice for both power-play goals in New York’s 5-1 victory over the Florida Panthers at the NHL Winter Classic in Miami on Friday and did it again on Monday.
Though he didn’t figure in the scoring on any of those four goals, Fox was on the ice for all of them. He makes the power play go; the Blueshirts are 5-for-8 since his return.
Missed opportunity
It’s understating the issue to say the Rangers can’t afford to allow points to slip away, but that’s just what they did against the Mammoth. The Blueshirts dominated the second period and could have had more than a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes except for the play of Vejmelka.
But Utah, a young, fast team, came out with more juice in the third period, something that didn’t make Sullivan happy.
“In the first half of the third period, we didn’t play with the kind of intensity we needed,” he said. “We have to do a better job of pushback.”
The single point gives the Rangers 46 points; they’re three behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. But they’ve played 44 games, more than anyone else in the East, and their .523 points percentage is last among the conference’s 16 teams.
This was not a game they could afford to come away with anything but two points, especially when they were up a goal with less than 14 minutes to play.
