Igor Shesterkin will miss the rest of the season with a lower-body injury, the New York Rangers announced on Saturday, October 10, two nights after he was helped off the ice in Washington. The Rangers won their first game without him 6-2 against the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, with rookie Dylan Garand making 19 saves in his first start as the club's No. 1 goalie.

The announcement covers the remaining 77 games of an 84-game season. Shesterkin, the highest-paid goalie in NHL history by average annual value, had started five of the Rangers' seven games.

How Shesterkin was hurt and what the Rangers have said

Shesterkin appeared to injure his right leg at 8:20 of the second period of a 3-1 loss at the Capitals on Friday, when his skate jammed into the goalpost while he was scrambling back into his net. His leg bent awkwardly under him as he fell in the crease, and defensemen Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson helped him off the ice because he could not put weight on his right leg.

He had stopped 13 of 14 shots before he left, and Garand made 11 saves in relief. Shesterkin was 3-1-0 in five starts this season with a 1.79 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage, and he had already scored his first NHL goal on October 1 in a 5-1 win against Tampa Bay, shooting the puck into an empty net at 17:26 of the third period.

The Rangers have not revealed details beyond a lower-body injury. "Tough hearing this news," forward Mika Zibanejad said. "Obviously a huge part of our team and unreal teammate." Defenseman Adam Fox said he was still processing it: "A guy that means so much to our team."

Shesterkin is in his eighth season with New York, which drafted him in the fourth round in 2014 with the 118th pick. He is in the second year of an eight-year, $92 million contract signed on December 6, 2024, an average annual value of $11.5 million that makes him the highest-paid goalie in NHL history, and he won the Vezina Trophy in 2021-22. He missed 13 games last season after a lower-body injury on January 5 against Utah and finished 25-19-6 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage in 51 starts.

"You couldn't be more disappointed for 'Shesty,'" coach Mike Sullivan said. "Our message is, we keep fighting. It's a next-man-up mindset."

Garand went from waivers to the No. 1 job in 11 days

Joonas Korpisalo, acquired from Boston on July 1, is out four weeks with a lower-body injury of his own.

Garand, 24, was sent to Hartford of the American Hockey League on September 28 and went unclaimed on waivers, then was recalled on October 1 after Korpisalo went down. He had five career NHL games and four starts before Sunday, with a 3-1-1 record, a 1.31 goals-against average, a .954 save percentage and one shutout, and he made 22 saves for that shutout in a 2-0 win at Detroit on October 2. In three starts last season he was 2-0-1 with a 1.62 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage. Through Sunday he is 2-1-0 in three games this season with a 1.20 goals-against average.

"I think it's been 11 days, pretty crazy," Garand said of the turn his month had taken. "I think I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder for how my past has been and I'm really excited for this opportunity to go battle for the guys."

"These decisions aren't easy, but I wouldn't misconstrued that to suggest that we don't believe in him and we don't think that he's a capable guy," Sullivan said of the waiver move. Garand used much the same words about Shesterkin: "It's obviously tough when you lose your best player in 'Shesty' ... But it happens sometimes. It's pro sports, players get injured."

A three-step timeline shows waivers cleared, 11 days, and a No. 1 start.
Concept timeline of the article's stated sequence from waivers clearance to Garand's first start as the Rangers' No. 1 goalie.

The 6-2 win: two players scored twice

Tye Kartye scored 27 seconds into the game. Jake DeBrusk tied it at 17:04 of the first period, Will Cuylle put New York ahead again at 2:09 of the second, and Elias Pettersson answered with his first career short-handed goal at 16:56. Kartye's second of the night at 18:25 restored the lead 1:29 later, and the Rangers pulled away in the third.

Alexis Lafreniere made it 4-2 at 1:04 of the third, Gabe Perreault scored on a deflection of Fox's shot at 5:57 and Cuylle added his second at 15:22. Kartye and Cuylle each finished with two goals, their first of the season, while Lafreniere and Perreault each had a goal and an assist and both J.T. Miller and Zibanejad had two assists. Kevin Lankinen made 19 saves for Vancouver.

The Rangers are 5-2-0 and 4-0-0 at home. They have outscored opponents 9-1 in third periods at Madison Square Garden, including 3-0 against Vancouver. Zibanejad became the third player in Rangers history with at least 250 power-play points, joining Brian Leetch (514) and Rod Gilbert (323).

Vancouver, now 2-5-0, lost a fourth consecutive game. "It's not a great feeling, obviously, when you can't put some wins together and the losses start adding up," coach Manny Malhotra said. "Bad third period," forward Drew O'Connor said. "We give up one early on the PK. We have to do better there. We kind of let it snowball after that."

What the Rangers lose with Shesterkin

Shesterkin is an elite shot-stopper and arguably the best puck-handling goalie in the league, with a goal and an assist already this season. He regularly leads breakouts and beats forechecks with his passing, which changes where opponents dump the puck and how they forecheck the Rangers.

"'Shesty' might be the best that I've seen play the puck, so obviously teams might think a little bit differently," Durzi said. The adjustment for the defensemen is communication. "Sometimes 'Shesty' would surprise us and make a play," Durzi said. "You make a call for the goalie. You make it easy on him. You make it early."

"It's going to provide opportunities for others to step up and we believe we have capable people," Sullivan said. "We can't control that scenario; all we can control is how we react."

What is still unsettled

The Rangers have not said how long Garand will carry the starter's workload beyond noting he has the job for the foreseeable future unless the club makes a trade, and no detail beyond "lower-body" has been released about Shesterkin's injury. Korpisalo's four-week timeline, given on October 10, is the only return date attached to the position.

New York hosts Tampa Bay on Tuesday, visits New Jersey on Thursday and plays at Columbus on Saturday. That is three games in five days for a team that has won four of its last five.