The Rangers and Capitals meet for the second time in three games. For New York, the only lineup change from Monday is Henrik Lundqvist will be back between the pipes after missing two games due to soreness following his knock down by Matt Calvert. Alexander Georgiev, who was 4-4-1 with a .918 save percentage, which was .926 before he was chased Monday, was sent down to Hartford, as Ondrej Pavelec returned from his injury Monday. Georgiev should play almost daily back in Hartford. With a win, Washington can all but lock up first place in the Metro Division.
Yesterday, besides the Georgiev announced, GM Jeff Gorton gave notice that Kevin Shattenkirk, out following meniscus surgery, would not return to action this season. Shattenkirk had a setback last week when escalating his activity in an attempt to come back and the decision was made to shut him down. The return to play for his hometown team clearly did not go as Shattenkirk, who signed a four-year, $26 million deal, expected. The injury played a key part in that.
As seen by the tweets below, Tom Urtz Jr. and Shayna Goldman nicely laid out the impact of the cortisone shot Shattenkirk received in late-September wearing off. When he first received the injection, Shattenkirk was producing well, as he was able to get some push off each leg and the injury was mildly impacting his play. The degradation of the knee, forcing him to play on one leg, can be seen in the production below while also having a material adverse impact in his own zone. ‘Kirk basically was unable to pivot and skate out of trouble. Not all of his defensive failings though was due to the injury and he will enter 2018-19 as a question mark, especially defensively.
Here are production splits of Shattenkirk using the timeline of him starting to feel pain at end of September and injections wearing off after 8-10 weeks. I used 9/24, last Sunday in September as the start. #NYR pic.twitter.com/STAWYiOLWC
— Tom Urtz Jr. 🥅📊📉🎰 (@TomUrtzJr) January 20, 2018
And a more visual look of the effects of injury courtesy of @hayyyshayyy pic.twitter.com/UpKSDTIWa2
— Tom Urtz Jr. 🥅📊📉🎰 (@TomUrtzJr) March 6, 2018
For the first time since the 2003-04 season, the Rangers will play a game that doesn’t matter towards the playoffs. The last time the Rangers missed the playoffs after the year was in the 2009-10, when they fell in a shootout in Game 82 to the Flyers on April 11, 2010 as I was sitting in the press box. We knew this moment was coming, yet despite that realization, it’s not any easy to swallow.
Remember how this feels. When we start talking rebuild and retool, this is the downside of it. But the goal is sustainable success and this is the path. The determination of what that path will entail has yet to be fully determined, because New York could kick in the draft and/or replenish in free agency. Some core pieces appear to be here, others must be added. Gorton’s and management’s job and challenge is to define that path forward and execute.
Devils' victory eliminates Rangers, who tomorrow in DC will play first game as non-playoff team since final game of 2003-04
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) March 28, 2018
Chris Kreider was nominated yesterday as the Rangers’ representative for the Bill Masterson Award. His recovery from a blood clot and rib resection made him the clear choice. Kreider and all the other nominees will need to congratulate Brian Boyle, who should be the winner of the award for his comeback from cancer. Kreider has looked like the power forward we all have been hoping for since he was drafted and made his debut in the playoffs.