All the talk about what the Rangers will be without Igor Shesterkin should be revised to what the club will be without their elite goaltending tandem.
That's because Jonathan Quick has covered most of the Blueshirts' mistakes since the club's star No. 1 goaltender, who once ruled them out of the Stanley Cup 10 years ago, arrived.
The 38-year-old, who turns 39 in two months, avoided Father Time to rejuvenate his career in New York en route to a 21-6-2 record in 29 starts with the Rangers.
“He's one of them,” said Chris Kreider, who made 37 saves in the Rangers' miraculous 4-0 win over the Red Wings on Saturday night, tying him for the 18th most shutouts in NHL history (61). ) talked about Quick, who was next to Turk Broda. “I don’t have words to describe it. He makes goaltending look fun just the way he moves, the saves he makes and the way he competes.
“I mean, you should see him warming up before the game, doing his splits and things like that. He's a great athlete and a great teammate.”
It was always the plan to have Quick in goal Saturday night, even after the Rangers' backup netminder played as a reliever in the previous game.
Quick will see the ice for the third time this season at Madison Square Garden on Thursday as the Sabers trail Shesterkin for five goals in the first 33 minutes, 11 seconds of the game.
Entering the second period, Quick went on to save nine of the 10 shots he faced in a lopsided loss to Buffalo.
While Thursday was his third appearance, Saturday marks Quick's third start of the 2024-25 season.
The Connecticut native has been incredibly strong between the pipes so far this season, saving 107 of the 111 shots he's seen since the start of the season.
This gave Quick the best save percentage in the NHL at .964.
After the win, his goals against average improved from 1.65 to 1.17, still leading the league.
With his secondary assist on Thursday, Artemi Panarin became the only active undrafted player to collect 800 career points.
Matt Lempe will continue to center the Hartford Wolfpack's second line between Adam Sykora and Anton Breed.
In the team's 6-3 loss to the Rochester Americans on Friday, he was minus-2 points on one shot on goal.
