The reality without Igor Shesterkin is beginning to dawn on the New York Rangers. That harsh reality was made even more apparent after their 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night.
In the wake of Shesterkin’s season-ending injury, Garand had started in seven consecutive games, and while he began without a hitch, the cracks in his game were becoming increasingly evident, as he gave up a total of 10 goals through the Rangers’ most recent two-game road trip.
Sullivan noted that he was mindful of Garand’s workload, as Garand had only started in three NHL games prior to this season, but was the team’s best option in net with both Shesterkin and Joonas Korpisalo injured.
Korpisalo resumed skating on Sunday, but it’s still unclear when he’ll be able to return from a lower-body injury that has kept him out for multiple weeks.
In an attempt to give Garand a rest, the Rangers signed veteran goaltender James Reimer to a one-year, $850,000 contract and started him on Monday night against the Kings.
The gamble on Reimer did not go as planned. The 38-year-old goaltender gave up three goals on just eight shots and was pulled for Garand after the first period.
Mike Sullivan took accountability for throwing Reimer into a situation that he wasn't necessarily prepared for.
“Let's just acknowledge we're in a difficult circumstance when our top two goalies are injured. We're trying to find a way to shore this thing up as best we can,” Sullivan said. “I think Dylan has given us some really good games. His workload is mounting. For Reims, to come in the way he has in short order and come into a game like this, it's not an easy challenge. It's a tough challenge and I just felt like the way the game was going, I just felt like maybe Reims needs a little bit more preparation before we put him in that circumstance. I put him in a tough spot. That's on me.”
In relief of Reimer, Garand was forced to jump into action and made 15 saves on 17 shots, but was unable to change the momentum of the game.
Due to the Rangers’ lack of goaltending depth behind Garand at the moment, he’s been put into a difficult spot, not only presiding over the starting goaltending position but also taking on a heavy workload that is both physically and mentally taxing for any goalie, let alone one with very minimal NHL experience.
New York’s most recent skid, in which they’ve lost three consecutive games, cannot entirely be blamed on their goaltending play, though.
To start the season, the Rangers played a highly structured defensive brand of hockey that helped translate to an impressive 7-3 start to the season.
Recently, the Blueshirts have strayed away from the identity that they prided themselves on, giving up more high-danger scoring chances and struggling to play a tight defensive game over the course of their past few games.
“The last little stretch here has been trending the wrong way,” J.T. Miller said. “We need to go back to playing to our identity. We're playing the opposite of that right now. We're making it too easy. We're lacking physicality.”
The Rangers are not an overly dynamic offensive team, which is why they are not built to win in the high-scoring affairs they’ve found themselves in recently or come back from multi-goal deficits.
A key to the Rangers’ success to start the season was the way they were able to capture an early lead and protect it by effectively playing a strong shutdown defensive style.
However, they’ve recently put themselves in deficits, largely due to their faulty defensive play, and have had to chase the game, losing their identity in the process.
“I think our guys have played really well with the lead throughout the course of this early part of the season,” Sullivan said. “There's no doubt that that has been in fact the case. If you get down multiple goals in the game, it's hard because then you're chasing it… I think we've given up multiple goals and that's a challenge because now you're digging out of the hole, and that's tough.”
All of these issues go back to the root problem of Shesterkin’s absence.
The Rangers’ entire identity and style of play center around Shesterkin, whom Sullivan described as “arguably our best player.”
“When you look at the makeup of our group, we have an elite goalie in Shesty, and if we build a good team, solid team game in front of him, defend hard, we are going to be in a lot of hockey games,” Sullivan said after the Rangers’ Oct. 4 win over the Utah Mammoth.
Over the years, many of the Blueshirts’ flaws have been covered up by Shesterkin, but without him, the team’s weaknesses are only magnified.
These recent struggles have been a combination of the Rangers failing to put together a consistent defensive effort and their goaltending problems without Shesterkin catching up to them.
The Rangers won’t play again until Sunday, giving the team a much-needed rest and reset as they look to overcome this skid and get back on track.