- Rangers beat the Canucks 6-2 at Madison Square Garden in their first game without Igor Shesterkin
- Dylan Garand made 19 saves while Tye Kartye and Will Cuylle scored twice apiece
- Read below for what Garand and Mike Sullivan said afterward
The Rangers answered the Igor Shesterkin news in the best way possible.
New York beat the Vancouver Canucks 6-2 on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, its first game since the team ruled Shesterkin out for the season. Dylan Garand stopped 19 shots in net, and Tye Kartye and Will Cuylle scored two goals apiece.
Kartye scored 27 seconds into the game. He added the go-ahead goal late in the second period, 1:29 after Elias Pettersson tied it 2-2 with a short-handed goal.
Alexis Lafreniere put New York up 4-2 on the power play early in the third, and Gabe Perreault made it 5-2 on a deflection of an Adam Fox shot. Cuylle closed it out late. J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad each finished with two assists.
Garand was asked about losing Shesterkin and talked about how the group handled it.
“It’s obviously tough when you lose your best player in ‘Shesty,’ a guy who plays so well for this team for so long and is such a big part of it,” Garand said. “It’s tough. It’s a blow to the group for sure. But it happens sometimes. I think the guys did a great job of stepping up tonight and we’re going to need more of that for sure.”
Garand is the guy now. The 24-year-old was placed on waivers before the season and cleared, then came back up when Joonas Korpisalo got hurt. He had already stopped 11 of 12 shots in relief of Shesterkin in Friday’s 3-1 loss in Washington.
He sounded ready when he spoke Saturday, per Jim Cerny. Check out what he said about his path to this spot:
Mike Sullivan was asked about the message to the room after losing Shesterkin.
“Expectations don’t change,” Sullivan said. “It’s the next man up mentality. It’s going to provide opportunities for others. Take advantage of it.”
The Rangers are 5-2-0 and a perfect 4-0-0 at home. They have outscored opponents 9-1 in the third period at the Garden this season.
Vancouver fell to 2-5-0 and has lost four straight. Jake DeBrusk had the other Canucks goal, and Kevin Lankinen made 19 saves. We covered the Shesterkin injury news when the Rangers announced it.
Garand and the Rangers host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
