NO SHATT’!
Scheduled for knee surgery; first injured in training camp
The cloud hovering over the injury-beset Rangers has a silver lining.
Because though Kevin Shattenkirk will be sidelined for an indefinite period of time following Monday’s scheduled surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, there are both a painfully obvious explanation for the defenseman’s disappointing opening run on Broadway and justifiable anticipation that upon his return he will be the player the club expected upon signing him last summer to a four-year, $26.6 million free agent contract.
The fact is, the 28-year-old New Rochelle native, The Post has learned, was essentially skating on one leg after sustaining the injury during the first week of training camp. Feeling internal pressure not to let down his new team, teammates, family, friends and Rangers fans, Shattenkirk pressed on despite diminishing returns until the pain and its compromising effects became too much to bear.
The defenseman was unable to accelerate to beat forecheck pressure and trigger the attack while also unable to close on attackers and finish off defensive plays. He was increasingly stationary and ineffective at the right point of the power play. Indeed, the eight-year veteran was a shell of himself while racking up a team-worst minus-14 rating that earned him a demotion to the third pair.
“It’s tough, you know, thinking about this year, you want everything to go perfectly and I think I’ve been trying to battle through this for a lot of reasons, and when it came down to it, we talked about it and you have to think about yourself,” a downcast Shattenkirk said before his club’s flight to Colorado for Saturday afternoon’s first contest of a four-game Western swing. “I’ve been worried about a lot more things, trying not to disappoint a lot of people, me included in that, so it’s hard to be leaving the team. It’s never easy to be sidelined.
“But I also feel that what I was putting out onto the ice, I wasn’t giving the guys on my team the best I had and that almost makes you feel even worse. You don’t want to be disappointed as a teammate. I think this is the first step to get back to where I am and come back and have a meaningful impact on this team down the stretch.”
Shattenkirk, who revealed that he received a cortisone shot at the start of the season and a platelet-rich plasma injection during the Jan. 8-12 bye period, made the decision to get surgery in consultation with the medical staff after struggling through 17:16 in Thursday’s 4-3 victory over the Sabres at the Garden.
The Rangers are suddenly a battered group. Chris Kreider may be down for the season in the aftermath of surgery he underwent Jan. 7 to address a blood clot in his right arm. Marc Staal will miss a second straight game Saturday with a hip pointer while Kevin Hayes will be sidelined for a fourth straight game with a leg contusion, though both may return for Sunday night’s match in Los Angeles.
The Blueshirts, who have won two straight, sit in the first wildcard spot, three points behind the Metropolitan Division’s second-place Devils and three points clear of a playoff spot. While Shattenkirk’s absence may create clarity for general manager Jeff Gorton in advance of the Feb. 26 trade deadline, it is certainly possible that the club’s play will improve without the compromised defenseman.
“When guys are out, it gives more opportunity to different guys. It’s important to have guys who make the most of this,” Henrik Lundqvist said. “You can’t look for any excuse not to play your best or not to find a way to win.”