The Rangers have only just started on the long road ahead.
It will be a minimum of nine more games and two more games, respectively, for Adam Fox and Filip Chytil to return to play.
And now they may be without their star goalie, Igor Shesterkin, for longer than originally anticipated.
By returning goalie Louis Domingue, center Jonny Brodzinski and defenseman Connor Mackey to AHL Hartford on Sunday morning and then calling them back up in the evening, the Rangers accrued precious cap space for the day while also maintaining the reinforcements they evidently need for their injured lineup.
Shesterkin, who was banged up in the Carolina game and could not dress as the backup in Minnesota, is day-to-day with minor soreness, according to a source.
Since the Rangers also brought back Brodzinski, it’s unclear what Barclay Goodrow’s paternity leave timeline looks like.
Though the Blueshirts may just want extra bodies around with Fox’s assignment to long-term injured reserve and Chytil’s placement on injured reserve.
This could mean that Shesterkin will not make his next start, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday against the Red Wings at the Garden.
The Rangers will practice on Monday and likely evaluate how Shesterkin feels.
Head coach Peter Laviolette noted that he and his staff tried to make as few moves as possible with injuries to the Rangers’ top defenseman and second-line center.
While getting Goodrow back in the bottom-six should bring the club a pinch of normalcy, not having Shesterkin available in goal with three top-10 scoring teams (Detroit, Minnesota, New Jersey) on the upcoming agenda could be a major hurdle.
Not that Jonathan Quick has disappointed in his role as backup in the slightest. In fact, the 37-year-old netminder was the only reason the Rangers secured at least a point in their shootout loss to the Wild on Saturday.
For the Rangers lately, normalcy has been winning.
They suffered just their third loss of the season on Saturday in a game where a desperate Wild team invaded the Rangers’ zone.
Sure, Minnesota had some extra jump in the midst of a four-game losing streak, but it was still a beatable club for even a depleted team.
“We scored three goals on [four] shots, it wasn’t like we were playing outstanding hockey for the first half, I think it was just kind of what the score was,” captain Jacob Trouba said. “I don’t think it was really sitting on a lead, I don’t think we really had our best game from the get-go. Found a way to get a point and move on. Regroup.”
The Wild are the least threatening team the Rangers will see, once again, during their three-game homestand this week.
Competition will only ramp up, with five division opponents scheduled between now and when Fox is tentatively scheduled to return on Nov. 29.
Detroit, the fourth-highest-scoring team in the NHL entering Sunday’s slate of games, will be at the Garden on Tuesday before the Rangers take on the Wild on Thursday.
They then wrap up the week against the Blue Jackets, to whom the Rangers gave up a season-high five regulation goals in their first meeting earlier this season.
The Rangers will need to find ways to overcompensate for the loss of Fox on the power play, as well as Chytil’s completion of the team’s most effective offensive line at five-on-five.
Zero goals and three combined points from two of their top three right wingers in Kaapo Kakko and Blake Wheeler isn’t going to cut it.
One five-on-five goal from their top-two active centers in Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck won’t do.
Relying on the power play for offense and goaltending to withstand high volumes of shots is not practical.
The work-in-progress Rangers have their work cut out for them. An 8-2-1 record cushion can only last so long.
“It’s tough losing guys, for sure,” Jimmy Vesey said. “I thought all the guys that stepped in played hard. Not sure if it was an effort thing, I think. Maybe we were just on our heels more than we would have liked. We’ll review the game and be better for it.”
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