Shesterkin out for season with knee injury — SkimNews
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- Shesterkin is out for the season after injuring his right knee Friday at Washington, jamming his right skate into the post while scrambling back into his crease in the second period and collapsing into the net in pain
- The Rangers lost 3-1 to the Capitals, snapping a four-game winning streak; Shesterkin left with the score tied 1-1 after stopping 13 of 14 shots, and teammate J.T. Miller called him "a pillar of this team"
- Shesterkin, the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner, was 3-1 with a 1.79 goals-against average this season and last week became the first Rangers goalie to score a goal, lofting the puck the length of the ice into an empty net against Tampa Bay
- Backup Dylan Garand (24), recalled from Hartford of the AHL last week, replaced Shesterkin and gave up the go-ahead goal late in the second period but finished with 11 saves; he is 2-0-1 with a 1.62 GAA this season
- Acquired backup Joonas Korpisalo, 32, obtained from the Boston Bruins last summer, is also on injured reserve and week-to-week with a lower-body injury, leaving New York without either of its NHL-caliber goalies
- Jonathan Quick, 40, now the Rangers' director of goaltender development after retiring last season, could be a possibility if asked, per sources cited by ESPN's Emily Kaplan
Why it matters: The Rangers now have no healthy NHL-caliber goaltender on the roster — Shesterkin is out for the year and Korpisalo is week-to-week — forcing them to lean on the untested Garand or potentially lure 40-year-old retired Jonathan Quick back. Last season a Shesterkin lower-body injury contributed to New York finishing last in the Eastern Conference, and the same scenario is now repeating with even less margin for error.
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