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Joonas Korpisalo can’t recover soon enough.
That statement acutely reflects the Rangers’ current predicament in goal after the recently signed veteran goalie James Reimer gave up three goals on eight shots to start a 6-3 thrashing by the Kings on Monday night that ended the Blueshirts’ undefeated streak at Madison Square Garden.
Head coach Mike Sullivan acknowledged how much the organization has asked of Dylan Garand in recent weeks.
Garand had started the previous seven games, appearing in eight in a row dating back to when the rookie netminder relieved Igor Shesterkin after the star goalie suffered his season-ending knee injury in Washington.
Signing Reimer, who was on a professional tryout with the Rangers’ AHL affiliate in Hartford, was meant to give Garand a reprieve.
And yet, there was Garand replacing Reimer at the start of the second period with the Rangers trailing 3-1.
The 38-year-old Reimer was slow to react in his first NHL game of the season, giving up goals on each of the first two shots he faced. And when the Rangers finally started to catch some momentum following J.T. Miller’s fourth goal of the season, Reimer couldn’t track a one-timer from Drew Doughty at the top of the zone and his team lost any push it had just as quickly as it started.
Pulling Reimer early and attempting to salvage the game fell on a Rangers team that was already reeling.
A cold Garand had to face a Kings power play almost immediately, and former Ranger Artemi Panarin was right there to deliver a 4-1 dagger. Garand ultimately gave up two goals on the 17 shots he faced in his fifth regulation loss of the season.
Despite flashes of No. 1 goalie potential from Garand, the jury is still out on if he’s a seasonlong solution for the Rangers.
The fact that Korpisalo, who has been on injured reserve with a foot infection, as confirmed by The Post, is considered a potential saving grace is a telling sign of the current state of the Rangers goaltending depth.
Given a four-week timeline Oct. 10, Korpisalo is projected to return around Nov. 7 as the Rangers begin their four-game swing in Seattle and Western Canada. Sullivan said Korpisalo skated for the first couple of times in recent days and is “making progress.”
Still, the 32-year-old goalie hasn’t cracked a .900 save percentage in a single season since the 2022-23 campaign.
The Rangers are naturally looking to see what Korpisalo can do when he’s ready, especially since president and general manager Chris Drury sent Kalle Vaisanen and a 2028 fourth-round pick to Boston to bring him to New York.
But for the first time in a long time, goaltending may be a big problem for the Blueshirts.
The five-day break in the game schedule couldn’t be coming at a better time. Not only will Garand be able to rest up, but the Rangers will be one week closer to getting another option in net.
While management dreamed of using the impending cap relief from Shesterkin’s eventual season-ending LTIR designation to bolster other areas of the lineup, goaltending may need to take precedence if it becomes a consistent issue.
Although the Rangers’ steadily deteriorating defensive structure isn’t inspiring much confidence at the moment that such a move would even be worth it.
The Rangers lost to a Kings team that won its first two games of the season just last week after going 0-4-2 to start.
In ex-Rangers coach Peter Laviolette’s first time back at MSG since taking over behind the Kings bench, Los Angeles jumped on the home team early.
The Rangers’ effort didn’t fold as quickly as it has in the past, but repeatedly giving up saveable shots made any offensive rhythm impossible to find.
The Blueshirts have now given up at least five goals in three consecutive games as they fell to 7-6-1 on the season.