The Rangers defeated the Sharks 1-0 Friday but lost Igor Shesterkin to injury. Alexandar Georgiev stepped in for Igor, stooping nine shots to preserve the shutout and pick up the win. Ryan Strome tallied the only marker of the contest on the power play. New York is back at it tonight against Chicago, with me in attendance.
Game recap:
A few thoughts: 1) Shesterkin:a non-contact injury will keep Igor sidelined for at least the next week, as he was placed on injured reserve today. It looked like the injury occurred on the second attempt to make the save not the initial push. No word given on what the injury is, but it could be hip, groin, hyperextension or maybe an adductor muscle.
Shesterkin appears to have sustained a leg injury and has to be helped off the ice #NYR pic.twitter.com/xdL2C8scVK
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) December 4, 2021
To me the broader concern is that I believe this is the fourth lower body injury suffered by Igor. The training staff needs to find a way to prevent these injuries from occurring. Happening annually at a minimum is pretty unacceptable, especially since it’s repetitive.
The good news, if there is any, is that the injury is not believed to be one that will keep Shesterkin sidelined long term. Right now, week-to-week rather than longer, which is a positive and Coach Gerard Gallant believes that Igor cold be back after he misses just the minimum. The Rangers have eight games in the next 13 days, and Shesterkin will miss, at a minimum, three of them. Management needs to be smart and not push Shesterkin back, even if Georgiev plays well. Adam Huska was called up for now, but when Hartford comes out of COVID-19 protocol, look for Keith Kinkaid to get the nod.
In Igor’s absence, Georgiev will get a chance to prove he can be a #1 netminder or at least a reliable number two. He wanted a chance to play, well, now he gets it. Put up or shut up. If there is an ancillary benefit, if Georgiev plays well, that could make it easier to deal him to free up some cap room next year and also bring back an asset.
2) Style of play: San Jose clogged the neutral zone and forced the Rangers to play a patient game. In the past, that would be a recipe for disaster. Last night, the team didn’t try and do too much, but maintained their discipline.
More impressive was the last five minutes. The Rangers maintained possession on the offensive zone, limited the time the Sharks could pull the goalie and play 6-on-5. When a save had to be made, Georgiev came up big, including one point blank on Logan Couture as well stops on Tomas Hertl and Brent Burns.
3 Moving forward: Calling it now, Mika Zibanejad breaks his 10-game goalless streak tonight. It’s great that the team has won five straight, are 9-1 in their past 10 and 15-4-3 on the season, but the big boys will need to pull more of the load wiuth Igor out. That’s means the D has to be better and the offense even more productive.