Rangers vow to step up as they face challenge of playing without Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox

The Rangers’ season did not end — at least, not as far as the schedule is concerned — when Igor Shesterkin and top defenseman Adam Fox went down with lower-body injuries in Monday’s overtime loss to Utah.     In fact, the Rangers had 38 games left in the season, beginning with the Buffalo Sabres’ visit to Madison Square Garden on Thursday. So the players who were healthy enough to be in the lineup had no choice but to get themselves ready to play harder and try to win as many games as they can the rest of the way.

“Well, it’s tough, obviously, losing guys,’’ said defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, Fox’s defense partner and Shesterkin’s teammate on the silver medal-winning Russia team at the 2015 World Junior Championship. “But on the other side of that, we still have games to play and we still need points. And we still have to climb in the standings. So that’s our mindset.’’

It helped that while the Rangers will be without Shesterkin and Fox for at least the next several weeks, they got captain J.T. Miller back against the Sabres after he missed seven games with a shoulder injury.

“J.T. is an important player for our team for so many reasons,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said. “Number one, he’s a terrific hockey player. I think he makes us better in so many ways. Top- six forward can take faceoffs; first over the boards on the penalty kill; plays on the power play. He’s just a good, solid 200-foot player on both sides of the puck. And his ability to impact the game, I think, is significant.’’

But even with Miller back, the Rangers, 20-18-6 entering Thursday’s game and three points out of a playoff spot, were facing a steep challenge   to make up for the loss of their star players.

Jonathan Quick, a likely future Hall of Famer and the winningest American-born goalie in NHL history, stood in for Shesterkin on Thursday and will carry the load in goal for the time being.

Replacing Fox was less straightforward. Rookie Scott Morrow, called up from AHL Hartford, took his place in the lineup and Gavrikov assumed Fox’s duties as the point man on the top power-play unit. Braden Schneider, who partnered with Gavrikov on the top defense pair when Fox missed 14 games in December with a shoulder injury, stepped back into that role.

“I don’t expect myself to fill [his] shoes,’’ Schneider said of replacing Fox. “Obviously he’s a special player, but I think I had an opportunity to do it [before] and I’ve got another chance to do it again . . . I’m expecting more of myself.’’

Schneider, the Rangers’ second first-round pick in 2020, said he thought his partnership with Gavrikov was good when Fox was out the first time.

“But we need more than good [now],’’ he said. “We want to have a chance to keep pushing at this. I’m a guy that needs to step up and take a hold of the opportunity that he has.’’

Schneider said that in his first crack at playing on the top pair, he prioritized being sound defensively and taking care of his own end of the ice. This time around, he said he wants to be better at “making things happen.’’

“Good D isn’t always just killing plays and moving it up,’’ he said. “Sometimes good D is getting it in their end and working them and getting those shots through and jumping in the rush. And picking your spots, obviously. You’ve got to be smart about it. I’m not going to be walking guys one-on-one by any means. But I think picking the spots and making sure that I’m involved in all areas of the ice is important.’’

Though the underlying numbers of the Gavrikov-Schneider pair haven’t been as good as the Gavrikov-Fox pair, Sullivan said Schneider, 24, has done a good job stepping up into the role.

“Him and Vladi as a pair were strong for us,’’ Sullivan said. “They get tough matchups. Foxy is not an easy guy to replace.

“But I think from the standpoint of the group that has stepped up in [Fox’s] absence, I think Schneids has been top of that list.’’

Notes & quotes: Sullivan said he had not spoken to Quick, who will turn 40 on Jan. 21, about his comfort level with what will be an increased workload. “We’re going to feel this process out,’’ he said. “We’ve got a lot of games here in a short period of time that’s going to require two goaltenders no matter who’s in the goal.’’ . . . With Miller and D Matthew Robertson drawing back into the lineup, D Urho Vaakanainen and C Justin Dowling were the healthy scratches . . . The Rangers held their fifth Centennial Night celebration, honoring fan favorites.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.