COLUMBUS, Ohio – Goalie Igor Shesterkin is unavailable to back up Jonathan Quick against the Blue Jackets on Saturday night due to an upper-body injury he presumably sustained the previous night at Madison Square Garden.
The undisclosed injury, which occurred during the Rangers’ loss to the Penguins, is expected to sideline Shesterkin for 1-2 weeks, which projects the star Russian netminder to be ready to return by the conclusion of the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-off break.
As a result, the Blueshirts recalled goalie Dylan Garand from the Hartford Wolf Pack to back up Quick in Columbus.
Saturday night is the Rangers’ last game before the two-week break in the NHL’s regular-season schedule.
A trainer came out to look at Shesterkin on Friday night, after the 29-year-old appeared to hurt himself following a goalmouth scramble late in the second period.
He flexed his right wrist after the sequence, but still finished the game and stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced in the Rangers’ 3-2 loss to the Penguins.
Shesterkin has already had some injury trouble this season.
After suffering an upper-body injury at the end of December, Shesterkin was placed on injured reserve and missed four games from Jan. 2-7.
He also missed a game on Dec. 8 because his wife was in labor.
The end of January wasn’t the best and the start of February hasn’t been the strongest for Shesterkin, who has given up four or five goals in three of his last five starts.
Of the 45 NHL goalies who played at least three games from Jan. 25 to Feb. 7, Shesterkin’s .835 save percentage is the second worst, ahead of only his former teammate and current Sharks goalie Alexandar Georgiev (.825).
Shesterkin’s 3.84 goals-against average was also the fifth worst over that span.
Of course, the Rangers as a team went 2-4 in that stretch and haven’t provided the easiest of conditions in front of him.
There were some unfortunate bounces and tough screens to fight through in their 3-2 win over the Bruins, but Shesterkin hasn’t been on his absolute A-game.
