Dylan Garand didn’t leave Columbus with a win, but he did leave with something just as important for a young goalie trying to steady a team: a clean answer after a rough night.
Garand stopped 28 shots in the Rangers’ 1-0 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets on Saturday, a performance that shut down any lingering concern after Thursday’s 7-1 loss to the Devils, when he was pulled for the first time in his NHL career. That night in New Jersey, he allowed four goals on 13 shots, including three in less than five minutes, and for the first time since taking over the starting job from Igor Shesterkin, the weight of the situation seemed to catch up to him.
Against Columbus, he looked far more like the goalie the Rangers have leaned on since Shesterkin’s season-ending injury.
“I knew he was going to bounce back tonight,” Sullivan said. “I said that to him before the game. I knew he was going to be good.”
Garand set the tone early with a pad save on Adam Fantilli, then kept building from there. The Rangers needed him in key moments, and he answered every time, including a diving glove stop on Cole Sillinger late in the third period and another glove save in overtime when Sean Monahan fired from the doorstep.
“It was a huge response,” Sullivan said. “He was solid in there.
He has a quiet confidence about him. I thought he made timely saves for us.
I thought he was real good.”
The Rangers still came up short, missing on three power-play chances in the third period before Kent Johnson ended it in overtime.
But Garand’s night was about more than the final result. It was a reminder that one difficult outing doesn’t define a young goaltender, especially one who had come into New Jersey with a 5-1-1 record, a .949 save percentage and a 1.37 GAA across his first seven NHL games.
“Games like that happen,” Garand said. “The best goalies in the world: Carey Price, Henrik Lundqvist, Igor, everyone’s been pulled, that happens.
I think you just learn from it and move on. I don't think a lot of us like the way we played that game.
And myself personally, I wasn't happy. I don't think I did a good enough job of being present, and maybe let the self-doubt a little bit creep in too much to my game.
It doesn't change my capability when games like that happen so just trust in myself trust in my game and respond.”
The Rangers recently brought veteran goaltender James Reimer into their American Hockey League pipeline, but that move doesn’t appear to change the reality in front of them: Garand is still the one who likely has to carry most of the starts for now, at least until Joonas Korpisalo is activated from injured reserve in a few weeks.
He has started all four games since Shesterkin went down with a season-ending lower-body injury, and Sullivan’s confidence in him has remained steady through both the rough patch and the response that followed.
“I just think it speaks volumes for his character,” Sullivan said of Garand’s performance against the Blue Jackets. “He's a high-character kid.
I said that after the Jersey game. I mean it…
“It’s just part of his makeup. He’s a competitive guy.
He’s got a lot of pride in his game. He knows how important he is to helping this team win, and he’s trying to take advantage of the opportunity that he has.
So I was happy for him, but it didn’t surprise me.”
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