That of Igor Shesterkin the start of the season had been sublime. Friday night against the Capitals, things suddenly took a scary turn.
During the Rangers’ 3-1 loss, the star goaltender was injured with 11:40 left in the second period while the Capitals were on the power play.
Shesterkin drove his right leg hard into the goal post while trying to recover after aggressively contesting a Pierre-Luc Dubois chance in the slot. The Russian goalkeeper immediately fell to the ice in pain and reacted as if something was seriously wrong.
Shesterkin remained on the ground for several minutes before being helped back to the Rangers locker room, unable to put any weight on his injured leg.
“It’s horrible,” Rangers captain JT Miller said according to Mollie Walker of the New York Post. “He’s a pillar of this team. It stinks. Obviously, he’s young. We don’t even know what’s going on, but to see him leave the game is a shock for all of us. At the same time, it means you have to put yourself in a man’s shoes to try to get the job done, especially for G (Dylan Garand).”
The Rangers later announced early in the third period that Shesterkin would not return. The Russian netminder, who recently scored a goalie goal, finished with 13 saves on 14 shots in 28:20 of ice time.
“Igor is probably, in the goaltending world, the face of it,” Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson said after the game. “So I hope it’s nothing serious and I hope to see him back in net here soon. But you never want to see someone go down with an injury like that.”
Backup goaltender Dylan Garand finished the game in net for the Rangers, stopping 11 of the 12 shots he faced. Garand was left with the loss after giving up the game-winning goal to Capitals forward Boone Jenner with 2:22 left in the second period.
Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan had no update on Shesterkin when he spoke to reporters afterward.
Shesterkin entered Friday with a 3-1-0 record with a .926 save percentage and a goals-against average of around 1.75, allowing two goals or fewer in each of his first four starts. He was also named the NHL’s first star of the opening week after scoring a goal against Tampa Bay. He would be a major loss for the Rangers if he were out for an extended period of time.
The team’s goaltending depth is already being tested as Finnish goaltender Joonas Korpisalo is already out with a lower body injury. Spencer Martin is also dealing with a lower body injury with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and is considered day-to-day.
“We’re not going to let (Igor’s injury) take our breath away,” Miller added. “We fought again today.”
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