A myriad of issues in recent weeks have sent the New York Rangers tumbling down in the NHL standings, and the latest concern involves the health of goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
The Rangers will attempt to find a way out of their deep funk without Shesterkin for at least three games starting with Thursday’s visit from the Boston Bruins in a matchup of the last two teams to win the Presidents’ Trophy for best overall record at the end of the regular season.
This season, New York is 4-15-0 in its past 19 games since a 4-3 road win over the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 19.
Shesterkin was injured during Monday’s 5-3 road loss to the Florida Panthers. He played the whole game and allowed four goals after allowing five in a loss at Tampa Bay on Saturday. The Rangers placed him on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury.
He will be out at least for Thursday and consecutive road games against the Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks. Without Shesterkin, Jonathan Quick (5-4-0, 2.69 goals-against average, .907 save percentage) will be the starter, while Louis Domingue will serve as the backup.
While the Rangers hope Shesterkin’s absence is not long term, they will attempt to avoid equaling a season worst with their fifth straight loss.
New York began its 19-game slide with five straight losses Nov. 21-29 and is getting outscored 19-6 in its current four-game slide. Shesterkin is 1-5-0 in his past six starts.
The Rangers have endured 11 losses by two goals or more in their skid, and spent Monday trying to rally against the Panthers. New York allowed two goals in the first 5:21, tied the game on goals by Filip Chytil and Ryan Lindgren in the second period, and again on a power-play goal by Chris Kreider in the third.
“It’s hard to be happy with (playing well), because we’re still losing,” New York’s Artemi Panarin said after the Rangers registered 35 shots on goal. “But at least we didn’t give up and we played good hockey, I think. We still had chances to make it even, but we’re not doing that.”
Boston is 12-6-1 in 19 games since Joe Sacco replaced Jim Montgomery behind the bench after a 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 18.
The Bruins won four straight Dec. 1-7 and are 5-2-1 in their past eight games.
In Boston’s 3-1 loss Tuesday at Washington, Justin Brazeau scored 1:21 into the contest, but the Bruins allowed two goals late in the first period, and the Bruins saw only 27 of their 83 shot attempts go on goal.
“We need to execute better on our entries,” Sacco said. “I think it starts there, and then, when we’re in the zone, we need to get tighter to the net. We need to improve that area of the game for our team.”
David Pastrnak, who exited Boston’s win over Washington on Dec. 23 with an upper-body injury, took five shots on goal and did not score for the fifth time in six games since scoring in back-to-back games Dec. 14-17 at Vancouver and Calgary.
The Rangers won all three meetings last season after the Bruins swept the three-game season series in 2022-23.
–Field Level Media
