The Metropolitan Division already looked messy. Now it looks even messier.
Saturday brought a major shakeup in New York, where the Rangers announced that Igor Shesterkin is out for the season after suffering a lower-body injury. The star goalie left midway through Friday night’s 1-1 game against the Washington Capitals after jamming his leg while trying to get back across the crease. Dylan Garand took over, and Washington pulled away for a 3-1 win in D.C.
Shesterkin’s start to the season had been excellent. In five appearances, he went 3-1-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 1.79 GAA, and he allowed two goals or fewer every time he played. He also managed to make noise on offense, scoring a goal against the Lightning to become the 18th netminder to do so and later adding an assist against the Mammoth.
The Rangers also said Joonas Korpisalo, acquired from the Bruins this offseason, will miss the next four weeks with a lower-body injury he suffered in the preseason. That leaves Garand in line for the starting job for now. Former Hurricane Spencer Martin is also in the AHL, though he has been dealing with a lower-body injury this year.
For Carolina, the timing matters because this changes the balance in a division that was already up for grabs. Almost two weeks into the season, the Rangers sit at 4-2-0, just ahead of the Hurricanes at 3-1-1 and the Capitals at 3-1-0, though it’s still early enough that the standings don’t mean much yet. Even so, losing Shesterkin takes one of the league’s best goalies out of the picture and makes an already wide-open race even more open.
I had the Rangers finishing third in the Metropolitan Division this season, and Shesterkin was my Vezina pick. With him in net, there was at least a real path for New York to rebound from a rough year. That path just got a lot harder.
None of this means the Rangers are finished. Garand could hold things together long enough for Korpisalo to come back, and New York could still steady itself. But Shesterkin’s injury is the kind of blow that changes how the rest of the division has to be viewed.
The Hurricanes won’t see the Rangers until November 22, when the teams open a stretch of three games in just over two weeks. By then, the picture may look very different. For now, the only thing to do is hope Shesterkin’s recovery goes smoothly.
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