The Rangers needed Dylan Garand to steady the ship, and he delivered one of his best nights of the season.
With Igor Shesterkin out for the rest of the year after a knee injury against the Washington Capitals, New York has been forced to lean heavily on Garand. Joonas Korpisalo was already sidelined by a foot injury before the home opener, leaving the Rangers thin in goal and asking a lot from a young netminder who has started all but one game since Shesterkin went down.
On Tuesday, Garand answered with a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.
The Blues came in at 7-6-1 and riding a two-game winning streak, but Garand kept them from turning pressure into damage. He stopped 32 shots and came within a minute of a shutout before St.
Louis finally broke through late in regulation. According to Money Puck, he faced only one high danger shot attempt all night.
The goal he allowed was tracked as a low danger chance, but the bigger picture was simple: he absorbed a steady wave of shots and kept the Rangers in control.
That mattered for a team that had dropped four straight entering the game and needed a response to stay in the mix in the Metropolitan Division.
Afterward, head coach Mike Sullivan made it clear the performance stood out.
“I think this game was an important one for him,” said Sullivan, h/t The Athletic's Peter Baugh. “He wanted to bounce back and have a solid night for the group, and he did.”
Garand said after the game that the jump from backup duty to every-night starter has been a major adjustment, and that he’s trying to sort out what parts of his game can help him keep winning for New York.
"All the noise around the NHL - it's new. At the end of the day, figuring out what I want to do with my game and me as a human being trying to battle for the guys and help this team win," said Garand, h/t SNY.
The Rangers have already tried to patch things together behind him. James Reimer got a start against the Los Angeles Kings, but that plan was scrapped quickly after he gave up three goals in the first period.
Now help may be on the way. On Wednesday, the Rangers sent Korpisalo to the AHL on a conditioning stint with the Hartford Wolf Pack, and he is expected to start against the Hershey Bears. How long that stint lasts remains to be seen, but Korpisalo’s eventual return appears to be coming.
Once he’s back, Sullivan will have a real decision to make about how to split the starts. For now, though, Garand has done enough to show he can handle the load, and his outing against the Blues was his strongest case yet that he belongs in the conversation as a No. 1 goalie.
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