Injuries will always happen during an NHL season, but the list of big names going down early this year is already long. Florida's Aleksander Barkov went down in the Panthers' second game, though his injury appears less severe than initially expected. Brad Marchand also exited his season debut with another injury. These are two of several examples, but some big news dropped this afternoon.
The New York Rangers announced on Saturday that superstar netminder Igor Shesterkin was done for the season after suffering a lower-body injury. He exited midway through a 1-1 contest with the Washington Capitals on Friday night after jamming his leg while trying to get back across the crease. Dylan Garand replaced him as the Capitals went on to win 3-1 in D.C.
It had been a very good start to the year for the Rangers, and Shesterkin specifically. In five starts, he was 3-1-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 1.79 GAA, allowing two or fewer goals in each appearance. He'd also pitched in offensively, scoring a goal against the Lightning, becoming the 18th netminder to do so, and adding an assist against the Mammoth.
The team also revealed that Joonas Korpisalo, whom they'd acquired this offseason from the Bruins, would also miss the next four weeks with a lower-body injury that he sustained during the preseason. This leaves Garand to take over starting duties for the time being. Former Hurricane Spencer Martin is also in the AHL, though he has been dealing with a lower-body injury this year.
To give you a little "inside baseball" for a minute, I had the Rangers finishing third in the Metropolitan Division this season. As wide open as the division is, I felt that there was a legitimate chance that the Rangers could turn the ship around after a tough year, especially with Shesterkin, who was also my Vezina pick, in the net. Obviously, that gets a little tougher now.
To call this "good news" for anyone would be in poor taste. It's an unfortunate injury, to say the least. Nevertheless, Shesterkin's exit both directly and indirectly affects every team in the division for the remainder of the season. It removes one of the best goalies in the world from the equation. An already wide-open division was suddenly opened even wider.
Almost two weeks into the season, the Rangers (4-2-0) own a slight edge in the standings over the Hurricanes (3-1-1) and the Capitals (3-1-0), though that hardly matters this early. With these latest developments, it wouldn't surprise me if the Rangers start to fall, again. Even with this injury, that isn't a guarantee. Garand could step in and save their season long enough for Korpisalo to return.
The Canes won't face the Rangers until the end of November, when they'll meet for the first of three games in just over two weeks on November 22. By this time, it will be anyone's guess how things will look. For now, all we can do is hope for a speedy and successful recovery for Igor Shesterkin. We might be enemies on the ice, but hockey is a game, and the health of the players is first and foremost.
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