Dylan Garand Feels He ‘Let The Team Down’ In Rangers' Loss To Oilers

The New York Rangers came out of a nearly week-long break with a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night, dropping their fourth consecutive game.

There was nobody who needed the break more than goaltender Dylan Garand.

After Igor Shesterkin’s season-ending injury on Oct. 9, Garand was forced to start in seven consecutive games and played in nine straight games. While he started off strong, as the fatigue began to set in, the cracks in his game became more evident.

Both Garand’s individual play and the Rangers’ overall team game faltered, indicative of their three straight losses going into their six-day break and the 10 total goals Garand gave up over his two previous starts.

With a much-needed rest and some time to reflect, Garand had an opportunity to bounce back and show his recent struggles were only a byproduct of the heavy workload he was forced to take on.

The 24-year-old goaltender struggled to kick off Sunday night’s contest, giving up two goals less than 10 minutes into the first period.

Connor McDavid scored the first goal, going coast-to-coast and weaving past the Rangers' defense before finding himself all alone right in front of Garand, completing a play only a superstar like him can make.

“The first goal is a tough one,” Mike Sullivan said. “McDavid is a unique player. When he ramps up speed like that, it’s hard to stop.”

The second goal came 6:19 into the opening frame. Colton Dach took a shot that went through Garand’s five-hole.

Garand was particularly hard on himself about the second goal he let up, describing his effort on the play as “awful.”

Despite falling into a three-goal deficit by the midpoint of the second period, Sullivan was pleased with his team’s start and overall performance throughout the game.

“I don't think the start was terrible by any stretch,” Sullivan emphasized. “We gave up, I think, three goals and nine shots or something, we got to be better there. But just from an energy standpoint or even momentum standpoint, I felt like they had the right intentions.”

On the contrary, Garand was extremely disheartened with his start to the game, emphasizing that he “let the team down” and took a share of the blame for the Rangers’ loss, even though he was able to settle in over the second half of the contest, making 16 saves after giving up the third goal.

“I felt really good in the second 30 minutes, but I thought my first 30 minutes was awful,” Garand said. “Honestly, inexcusable. Let the guys down. Pretty disappointing, put that loss on me. And yeah, it sucks.”

With both Shesterkin and Joonas Korpisalo out of the lineup, the Rangers have had no choice but to solely rely on Garand through this stretch of games, putting him in a difficult position, especially given his lack of experience at the NHL level.

Even when Korpisalo is activated off injured reserve, which should be soon since he resumed practicing this week, the Rangers will still need Garand to play an important role in their goaltending plan without Shesterkin in the picture.

After New York’s Sunday night loss, Sullivan voiced his confidence in Garand moving forward.

“I just think he's a great kid and he's a competitive guy, and so I think that's just his nature,” Sullivan said of Garand. He'll bounce back. He's a high character kid.”