The New York Rangers were able to get themselves back in the win column with a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night. It was a gritty win, but a win nonetheless.
Going into it, Blueshirts goaltender Dylan Garand was anticipated to be the biggest X-Factor,and after 60 minutes of hockey, he certainly was. He has had to endure a serious workload as of late, and the recent string of losses was definitely not helping his confidence.
However, this bounce-back victory over the Blues could be the start of something special
Looking ahead
You cannot erase the past, as those losses have come and gone. But a 32-save outing that was very nearly a shutout—broken only late by Blues fourth-liner Pius Suter—is a great way to build that confidence back up.
The Blues are a strong team, featuring a flourishing top-six forward group and skilled puck-moving defensemen on the blue line. They are a tough test for any opponent, but the Rangers beat them at their own game.
Looking ahead, New York faces upcoming battles against Philadelphia, Seattle, and an immediate rematch with Edmonton. The hope is that Joonas Korpisalo will be up to game speed in time for that western road swing. That would finally give Garand a well-deserved breather while revealing whether General Manager and President Chris Drury pulled off a prescient move this past offseason.
Nobody could have predicted that the Blueshirts’ biggest concern right now would be their goaltending depth.
Help is on the way
With news of Korpisalo heading to Hartford and putting up a solid 34-save effort on Wednesday night against Hershey, that has to come as a huge sigh of relief for Garand. This past week gave the Rangers a bit of breathing room in the schedule, complete with a five-day break in the middle. Capped off by this win over St. Louis, it is about the best-case scenario the team could have asked for in net.
Without Igor Shesterkin, Garand has catapulted himself into a category few ever reach: starting goaltender for the New York Rangers. It is a title held by a long line of elite netminders, many of whom are in the Hall of Fame. On top of that, he has had to process the emotional whiplash of being exposed on waivers and passed over by the rest of the league in late September, only to suddenly become "the guy" at Madison Square Garden.
He has carried the load essentially on his own, but reinforcements are finally on the horizon. A manageable stretch leading up to that help gives the Rangers a much clearer outlook, and head coach Mike Sullivan can breathe a little easier regarding his crease decisions moving forward. The James Reimer experiment might resurface in an absolute pinch, but it is best to anticipate Garand and Korpisalo taking full control of the tandem from here on out.
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