While there is no official word from the New York Rangers about the extent of Igor Shesterkin‘s injury, there are reports that it is not serious. The most information comes from Vince Mercogliano of USA Today.
As for Igor Shesterkin, he had an MRI today and I'm hearing there was no long-term injury revealed. The #NYR will let him rest for the next 3 games before having him skate Thursday to test out the lower-body injury and determine a target date for his return. https://t.co/YIA3G9SJge
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) December 4, 2021
That’s certainly good news, but it comes with a dose of uncertainty. It means he will be out for days, possibly a week or two instead of months which was what it looked like when he was helped off the ice last night. It appears to be a strain as opposed to a tear and that is important.
According to the Rangers’ website, he has been placed on Injured Reserve. That means he cannot play for a minimum of seven days meaning he will definitely not be able to play until Sunday, December 12 versus Nashville.
To back up Alexandar Georgiev, the Rangers called up Adam Huska from Hartford. He was their only option with Keith Kinkaid one of ten Wolf Pack players who had tested positive for COVID-19. Huska has played in six games for Hartford with 2-3-1 record, a 2.20 Goals Against Average and .922 Save Percentage. That GAA ranks seventh in the AHL and his Sv% is sixth overall.
The Rangers have one set of back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday. They play in Chicago on Tuesday and return to Madison Square Garden versus Colorado the next night. Gerard Gallant has been reluctant to start the same goalie in two straight games, so we could see Huska make his NHL debut next week.
The last time Georgiev played a lengthy stretch of games was at the end of the 2019-20 season when he started five out of six games from February 25 through March 5. He went 3-2 in that stretch. It’s a great time for the young goalie to prove that he can carry the team.
If anything, this proves that you can never assume a team will stay healthy and all of those wins the Rangers have piled up so far this season will pay off in the long run.