Rangers Embrace ‘Next-Man-Up Mentality’ In Decisive Win Over Canucks

After Igor Shesterkin suffered a season-ending injury on Friday night, there was uncertainty around how the New York Rangers would respond as a team and whether they could continue their success without their star goaltender.

The Rangers responded in a resounding way, coming away with a decisive 6-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night.

With Shesterkin out for the season and Joonas Korpisalo expected to be sidelined for the next month, Dylan Garand is set to take on the Rangers’ starting goaltending job for the foreseeable future, and Sunday night’s game was his first test.

Going into the contest, players emphasized that they were ready to “rally” around Garand, while the 24-year-old goaltender emphasized that he was “very ready” for the challenge ahead.

Garand answered the bell, making 19 saves on the night, and did not appear to be overwhelmed or fazed by the moment.

“I'm just trying to fight every night and give the guys a chance to win,” Garand said. “For the guys in this room, but also for these fans in this city. They mean a lot to me, and I really appreciate their support.”

Despite some of their early-season success, the Rangers decided to make a slight tweak to their top-six forward unit, putting Pavel Dorofeyev on a line with Gabe Perreault and Mika Zibanejad while placing Alexis Lafrenière onto J.T. Miller and Tye Kartye’s line.

Sullivan’s tweak proved to be successful. The Lafrenière-Miller-Kartye line combined for two five-on-five goals, with both coming from Kartye, including the first goal, which came less than one minute into the contest off a behind-the-back pass from Lafrenière.

Meanwhile, the Dorofeyev-Zibanejad-Perreault line generated a five-on-five goal in the third period, with Perreault, who finished the game with two points, finding the back of the net.

“Obviously it's a small sample size, but I thought I thought both lines were pretty good,” Sullivan said of his top-six unit. “It seemed to work tonight. We scored some five-on-five goals, which was the objective. We'll watch it moving forward.”

The Rangers’ third line of Will Cuylle, Noah Laba, and Eeli Tolvanen has been a consistent link for the team throughout the entire season, as the trio has been extremely effective on the forecheck and at keeping the puck in the offensive zone while playing a hard-nosed and fast brand of hockey.

Cuylle scored two goals on Sunday night, with his impressive play to start the season finally translating to the scoresheet.

The Rangers’ offensive onslaught was a product of their structured defensive play, specifically in the third period, when they gave up only four shots while attempting to hold their lead.

On Saturday, Sullivan emphasized that there would be a heightened level of importance on maintaining the team’s newfound identity of being hard to play against, limiting the quality of scoring chances against, and creating offense off defense without Shesterkin.

The big question leading into Sunday’s matchup was whether the absence of Shesterkin would bring out the worst in the Rangers and, in the process, lead to that identity fading into the shadows.

Even after the devastating loss of Shesterkin, the Rangers continued to play the game that has brought them so much success to kick off the season and showed what they are still capable of without the safety net that Shesterkin provides.

“We got dealt tough news with Shesty, and everybody feels that, without a doubt,” Sullivan said. “We feel for Shesty, first and foremost, because we know how much he cares about playing and loves to play and being part of the team and all of those things. And then he happens to be arguably our very best player, and so that's a tough blow to the group. But once again, you can only control the things that are within your power, and our players are well aware of that.

“We had that discussion, and I think there's a maturity to this group. I think these guys, they haven't lost any level of enthusiasm. I think they believe in the team game that we're trying to build here, and I think we will continue to compete. At the end of the day, that's our challenge, and that's the discussion we had. Expectations don't change. It's next-man-up mentality, and it's going to provide opportunities for others.”