Even with Igor Shesterkin going on IR with an upper-body injury after Sam Bennett crashed into the Rangers' goaltender after a hit by Ryan Lindgren in the third period at Florida on Monday, it's still good for Jonathan Quick. Nothing changes.
“The game plan remains the same, right? No matter who’s in the lineup, no matter who’s out of the lineup, we’re going to give it our all for the game. [Thursday] said Quick, who will be in net against the Bruins as the club looks to end its recent four-game losing streak at the Garden. “Go to work.”
The Blueshirts have not provided an update on Shesterkin, but the club will miss at least seven days of back-to-back games in Boston and this weekend at Washington and Chicago until the Stars come to New York on January 7th. It will be. At this point, Shesterkin would be eligible to return for the Garden game against the Devils on Jan. 9, but there is certainly no guarantee.
Quick hasn't started consecutive games since April 12-13, 2022, when he was with the Kings. Louis Domingue, recalled from the Wolfpack, will no doubt play in one of this weekend's games.
Domingue, who had a 4-9-1 record, 3.64 GAA, and .888 save percentage during his time in AHL Hartford, has a 1-0 record with the Rangers and will face Shesterkin on November 9, 2023. In that time, he made 25 saves and defeated Minnesota 4-1. and quick was not available. The Blueshirts promoted the 32-year-old on Tuesday to replace Dylan Garland, who posted a 9-4-2 record with a 2.25 GAA and a .926 save percentage with the Wolfpack.
Now, let's get back to the story.
“It's a season where you just take it game by game no matter what the circumstances are,” Quick said. “That's the focus of our whole group, taking it one game at a time and preparing to be a really good team in Boston.”
Quick's numbers took a hit while the team was free-falling 4-for-15 into the NHL's backside region. After starting the season with two straight shutouts and a 4-0 record, 0.90 GAA and .970 save percentage, No. 32 is 1-4 with a 4.00 GAA and .855 save percentage since November 23rd.
“I don't want to overcomplicate anything,” said the three-time Cup winner, who celebrates his 39th birthday on January 21. That's an 82-game season.
“When you start looking at past or future games, you lose sight of the moment. I've always felt the best approach is to stay in the moment, game by game. Personally, too. “As a group, it's about, 'What can we do today to get better? What can we do as a group to get better?'” he said. “We have to be better as a group today.”
The Rangers worked hard and practiced vigorously, using the same front and defense combinations they had on Monday when they lost 4-3 to the Panthers, their seventh regulation loss in the last eight games.
The Blueshirts, who lost five in a row from Nov. 21 to Nov. 29, have never lost at least five games in regulation in the same season twice since 1988-89.
To avoid becoming just the third defending Presidents Trophy winner to miss the postseason since the award was created in 1985-86, the remaining seven teams must enter Thursday with seven points to reach the playoffs. Rush in. Rangers in 1992-93 were the first club to do so.
“We're not sitting here and saying, 'Okay,'” Laviolette said. “Nothing is okay right now.
“The start has to be on time, the discipline has to be good, the specialist team has to be good too, 5-on-5. These are things we have always talked about and are improving. We need to and we are working towards it.
“We have to lower the throttle and realize we have to start getting these points now.”
