The New York Rangers came through with a 6-1 win over the Devils, but the victory was tempered by the sight of Igor Shesterkin being helped off the ice in the third period after sustaining an injury. There was a lot to like from this win, but if their top goalie is out for a while, it will be a challenge. Until he was hurt, this victory belonged to Shesterkin as he kept the Rangers in the game for over a period until they woke up and started scoring.
After the game, Coach David Quinn didn’t have much information. He said “It’s a lower body injury and we’ll know a lot more about it tomorrow morning.I don’t have a status on him right now.”
There were a few headlines in this game besides the Shesterkin injury. Coach David Quinn benched Mika Zibanejad for half of the second period. Chris Kreider got his second hat trick in five games. The Rangers played as bad a period of hockey as they have this season to start the game. The Rangers matched their season high with six goals. Alexis Lafrenière had his first multi-point game with a goal and an assist.
Chris Kreider is on one of the hottest streaks of his career as he got his second natural hat trick in five games and he has now scored nine goals in his last six games. He is now third in the NHL iin goals with 13, five behind Auston Matthews and one behind Connor McDavid and Tyler Toffoli. His slow start is just a distant memory as he has filled the scoring void left by Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad.
The benching of Mika ZIbanejad was significant. He played only 13:04, his fewest minutes by far. Quinn made it clear that it was a result of a lousy first period by the entire team. “I didn’t love his game. I didn’t love what we were seeing…he’s kind of had a tough start to the season and I thought sitting him for a while could give and our team a bit of a jolt.”
Quinn tried to explain Zibanejad’s issues saying “I think he’s letting the pressure and all the stats slow him down a bit. It’s getting to him. He’s a fearless player and a courageous player…but something’s just missing.”
It’s clear that Quinn feels that he has given Zibanejad a lot of time to work out his issues. “We’ve certainly continued to try to let him play through it, he’s certainly earned that opportunity, but we’ve got to continue to play the guys who are playing well. ”
Quinn said that he saw improved play from Zibanejad after he went back into the game saying “if I saw an uptick in his play I would continue to play him and if not, he’d continue to sit.”
It was a good start to the six game road trip. The Rangers will be getting Jacob Trouba and Kaapo Kakko back, but they still have questions about Artemi Panarin’s availability and now, Shesterkin’s status.