Fast out, Shesterkin TBA for Game Two

Some news and more questions after the New York Rangers Sunday practice

The New York Rangers practiced on Sunday and after it ended, Coach David Quinn updated the status of the team’s roster.  Here are the headlines:

1. Jesper Fast will not play in Game Two
2. Mika Zibanejad and Tony DeAngelo did not practice, but are good to go on Monday.
3. Steven Fogarty and Vitali Kravtsov both practiced with the starters.  One of them will replace Jesper Fast.
4. Quinn is leaning towards moving Kaapo Kakko up to the second line to replace Fast.
5. Igor Shesterkin’s status is TBA meaning he could still replace Henrik Lundqvist in net for the second game

The Fast impact

Losing Jesper Fast is a body blow to the Rangers.  Their best defensive forward and a key component of the  Panarin line, it will be tough to replace him.

The smart money is on Quinn moving Kaapo Kakko up to the second line where he played some yesterday. In 4:31 minutes of ice time, all at even strength, the threesome had four shots on goal while giving up three.

With Vitali Kravtsov and Steven Fogarty both at practice, one of them will be in the lineup to replace Fast, presumably on the fourth line.  Kravtsov would be making his NHL debut if he plays.  Fogarty has appeared in 18 games over three seasons and has yet to notch a point.

The 27 year old Fogarty had 13 goals and 37 points in 54 games for Hartford.  Kravtsov played in 39 games with six goals and 15 points.  If the team is looking for defense and experience, they will go with Fogarty.  If they are looking for offensive potential, it’s Kravtsov.  It’s also worth noting that Kravtsov did a much better job of playing  a two way game late in the season for the Wolf Pack, something that Assistant Coach Gord Murphy will have an opinion on.

While much has been made about the impact of losing Fast on the penalty kill, the Rangers still stopped six of seven Carolina power plays, although they gave up 12 shots in 10:23 of shorthanded time.  It was the lack of scoring that killed the Rangers in Game One.

The goalie question

We covered this extensively in another post so we won’t get into it in depth here. The bottom line is it is a toss up and there are valid reasons to start either Shesterkin or Lundqvist.  All three goalies were on the ice for practice Sunday.

Without knowing the nature of Shesterkin’s injury, it is very possible that he will be held out of Monday’s game for health reasons.  In that case, the Rangrers are not in a bad position if they have to start Lundqvist who played very well.

About the Hurricanes

The only news that came out of the Hurricane practice was that Dougie Hamilton is still unlikely to play, though he did skate on his own before practice.  He is still a possibility to return at some point in this series.

his Zoom call, Coach Rod Brind’Amour talked like a coach who is looking forward to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, saying that he’d like to change the lineup so that everyone gets some action.  That mean Trevor van Riemsdyk will definitely be in the lineup at some point as Brind’Amour said “We know if we’re going to advance and be successful, we’re going to need everybody so you certainly don’t want anybody sitting out too long.”