The New York Rangers delayed Monday’s practice to announce that two of their players had been hurt in a car accident on Monday. Pavel Buchnevich and Igor Shesterkin were in the car and both will miss time with the resulting injuries.
NYR: Pavel Buchnevich and Igor Shesterkin in car accident last night. Buchnevich is day to day. Shesterkin non-displaced rib fracture, evaluated in a couple weeks.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) February 24, 2020
Igor Shesterkin, Pavel Buchnevich Both Injured
Little details have been released about the crash, understandably so. Instead, many people are simply wishing the two well, thankful they’re only out for the short-term. Shesterkin, who is expected to miss a couple of weeks with a rib injury, has been the star of the Rangers lineup as of late. The rookie goalie has played in six of the Rangers 12 games in February, winning all six. All-in-all, he’s set a 9-1-0 record during his rookie year. Many have drawn similarities to Jordan Binnington‘s hot streak last season; as Shesterkin has sparked a rally with the Rangers. Since he’s joined the team on January 7th, the Rangers have gone 14-6-0 and allowed only 50 goals-against, a 2.5 per-game average.
Buchnevich has also been tremendously important to the Rangers. He currently ranks sixth on the team in scoring, with 37 points in 61 games. These 37 points have come through 14 goals, fifth-highest on the team, and 23 assists: sixth-highest. His point total this year is only six short of his career-high 43 points, which he set in the 2017-18 season. It’s also one point shy of what he ended last year with.
Buchnevich is day-to-day and may be back as soon as the end of the week, likely to only miss a few games. Dealing with Shesterkin’s injury may be a bit tougher for New York. Luckily, they have Henrik Lundqvist at their disposal. Lundqvist served as a healthy scratch for the first time in his career in the Rangers most recent game. Shesterkin started this game, with Alexandar Georgiev backing him up. In the wake of Shesterkin’s injury, Lundqvist will surely be back in the lineup come Tuesday’s matchup.
Main Photo:
