Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev exits with cut above eye, but returns to finish in loss to Bruins
A trainer tends to an injury on Alexandar Georgiev #40 of the Rangers during the first period against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden on February 28, 2021. Credit: Getty Images/Sarah Stier
Alexandar Georgiev looked like a boxer after a fight in his postgame Zoom news conference, with his left eye a little swollen and starting to become discolored.
The Rangers goaltender said he was OK, though. He was cut above the eye when Boston’s Nick Ritchie fell on him in the crease in the first period of Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Bruins at the Garden.
The injury forced Georgiev to leave and go through the NHL’s concussion protocol, but he returned to the bench before the period ended and went back into the game for the final two periods.
"It was a scramble around the net, and somebody might have fallen on me,’’ Georgiev said. "I’m not really sure. My mask got squeezed, and I think it was coming off, and [the mask] cut me above the eye. Thankfully, I was OK.
And I guess they had to pull me off because of the concussion protocol, which was unfortunate but something I had to do.’’
Georgiev initially stayed in the game after being treated by trainer Jim Ramsay and allowed a goal by Charlie Coyle at 6:41 of the first period, 53 seconds after the incident. But he said the injury had nothing to do with the goal.
"I definitely wish I could have had that one,’’ he said.
Blue notes
Georgiev stopped 31 of 33 shots he faced in 45:25 of ice time. Igor Shesterkin, who entered when Georgiev was forced out, played 13:19 and faced two shots, allowing Trent Frederic’s tip-in goal that put Boston up 2-0 late in the first period. That goal ended up being the game-winner after the Rangers’ Colin Blackwell scored in the third. Shesterkin officially took the loss and fell to 4-7-1 with a .917 save percentage. Georgiev is 3-2-2 with a .907 save percentage . . . David Quinn used the same lineup as he did Friday, meaning Anthony Bitetto again was scratched.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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