With Igor Shesterkin overnight with a groin injury and Alexandar Georgiev rewarded with the third leg of the season in the middle of the game, Keith Kinkaid was named the starter for the Rangers game in Boston on Saturday afternoon. .
This will be Kinkaid’s second start in his Rangers role since he was called up from the taxi crew earlier this month, shortly after Shesterkin claimed what was described as a “light” groin strain in -a victory on March 4 over the devils.
Saturday will mark the fifth consecutive game for which Shesterkin has been unavailable, which adds further speculation that his injury was not actually “easy”.
“It’s really an overwhelming situation,” head coach David Quinn said Friday about Shesterkin’s injury. “It simply came to our notice then. It’s coming back a little longer than I thought. But you can wake up tomorrow and be in a good position and play sooner rather than later, so it’s really everyday. ”
Kinkaid, who signed a $ 1.65 million two-year deal with Rangers as a free agent in October, has made three appearances on the net so far this season – two of which have been in relief for Georgiev .
In 42:46 of ice time during Rangers’ 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh last week, Kinkaid kept the team competitive and stopped 16 of the 18 shots it faced. He made his first start as a Ranger in the next game against the Penguins, but a defensive failure led to a 4-2 defeat, despite Kinkaid’s performance with 23 saves.
Georgiev gave up four goals in 14 shots in Bruins’ 4-0 loss on Thursday, prompting Quinn to play Kinkaid. The 31-year-old, in his eighth NHL season, gave up all 13 hits he faced with relief.
In an attempt to generate any crime in Thursday’s loss, Quinn put Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko together on what he called the “child’s line.”
The trio, with a median age of 20, recorded only 5:12 of the ice time together and generated three photos. Asked if there was a line he was thinking of keeping together, Quinn said there are things he likes about it.
“There were some good signs as the game progressed and they got a little familiar with each other,” he said. “So we will definitely experience this move first.”
The Bruins trio, Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak, is described as the “Line of Perfection” for a reason and was fully displayed on Thursday against the Rangers.
With two goals, five shots and four shots – including three assists from Marchand – the Bruins’ top line made its way to the Rangers.
“I’m definitely one of the best lines in the league,” Ryan Strome said. “I think you just see the chemistry they have, I think sometimes that doesn’t seem to create much of a boom. They just have great opportunities. This is definitely a challenge for us, I think we did a pretty good job against them this year. It will be quite difficult to stop them all together.
“I think it’s a kind of trend they set for the season. … I think we just need to focus a little more attention to detail, I think we need to be more aware of where I am, to talk more as a group. ”