This is not about Igor Shesterkin. It’s about Alexandar Georgiev and Rangers coach David Quinn’s desire to ride the hot hand.
Georgiev has helped the Rangers earn at least one point in each of his last four appearances (they are 2-0-2 in those games) and performs strongly in Friday night’s 6-2 win over the Bruins at the Garden. So he will be back in the net in Sunday’s rematch with Boston.
“It is always a competition. The plan is to play the man who gives you the best chance of winning, ”Quinn said of Zoom on Saturday. Georgiev played well. I think he got six of his last eight points and had a good night [Friday] night, so give him a chance [on Sunday]
Shesterkin has started 11 of the Rangers’ 18 games and has better overall scores than Georgiev – a lower goals-against-average (2.40 vs. 2.81) and a higher serve (91.9 to 90.1) – but Quinn likes what he’s seen recently. Georgiev.
“He hasn’t played two in a row, I don’t think for a while,” said the coach. “I just wanted to give him the opportunity to follow up on what he was doing [Friday] night.”
The status of Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko remains unchanged, according to Quinn.
Kakko, on the team’s COVID-19 protocols list, has missed the last three games, while Panarin has been out for the last two because he is taking a leave of absence following an accusation from one of his former KHL coaches, Andrei Nazarov, who 2011 Panarin got into a fight with an 18-year-old woman. Panarin has denied the allegations and there is no evidence or police file to support Nazarov’s claims.
With practice on Saturday, Quinn said it is unlikely that Filip Chytil will play (hand) on Sunday. The 21-year-old center returned to practice on Thursday after an absence since January 24.
The credit for the Rangers’ first goal on Friday has been changed from Julien Gauthier to Phil Di Giuseppe. It was Di Giuseppe’s first goal of the season. Gauthier is therefore stuck on one goal.