Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin leaves game against the Mammoth because of injury

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin left his team’s game Monday night against Utah midway through the first period with an apparent left leg injury. He did not return.

Coach Mike Sullivan said Shesterkin was still being evaluated for what the team called a lower-body injury.

Shesterkin’s leg bent awkwardly with his skate on the ice as he attempted to avoid contact with Mammoth forward JJ Peterka, who was on the edge of the crease. Peterka made only slight contact, if any, with Shesterkin, who lay down in the net in pain while he was attended to by a trainer.

The 30-year-old face of the franchise was helped off the ice by the trainer and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and did not put any weight on his left leg. Veteran backup Jonathan Quick replaced Shesterkin, and the Rangers lost 3-2 in overtime.

Shesterkin won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie in 2022 and is in the first season of an eight-year, $92 million contract that made him the highest-paid player at the position in league history. The Russia native from Moscow is 17-12-4 with a 2.47 goals-against average and .912 save percentage this season, his seventh with the Rangers.

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