Rangers' Louis Domingue gets the start in net vs. Wild
Louis Domingue #70 of the Rangers warms up before a game against the Minnesota Wild at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
GREENBURGH – With neither Igor Shesterkin nor Jonathan Quick available for Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Wild at the Garden, veteran Louis Domingue will get the start for the Rangers, who look to extend their eight-game point streak.
“Louie's been here for a little bit, in and out, with us in practice, and he'll get an opportunity tonight," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said after the team’s morning skate.
Domingue, 31, will be making his first NHL appearance since he started for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Rangers in Game 6 of the their first-round playoff series in 2022. The 6-3 native of Quebec earned some notoriety in that series when he came off the bench in Game 1 to take over for an injured Casey DeSmith and the Penguins won the game in triple overtime. Afterward, it was revealed that Domingue, who didn’t expect to play, had ordered Chinese food for his pregame meal.
That summer, Domingue signed a two-year contract with the Rangers to be the team’s third goalie behind Shesterkin and Jaroslav Halak, and remained in the role after the Rangers signed Quick this summer to replace Halak as the No. 2. He’s gotten off to a good start with the Rangers’ AHL affiliate in Hartford, posting a 3-1 record with a 1.75 goals-against average, .934 save percentage and one shutout in four games for the Wolf Pack.
“My game’s been good,’’ Domingue told reporters Thursday. “Year after year, you try to build something to become the best version of yourself in net. I think I’m continuing to trend that way.’’
He was first called up from AHL Hartford last Friday to serve as backup to Quick when Shesterkin didn’t make the trip to Minnesota for Saturday’s game against the Wild. He was sent back to Hartford on Sunday, but recalled for Monday’s practice and backed up Quick again Tuesday for the 5-3 win over Detroit.
He was re-assigned to Hartford after the game, but then recalled – along with fellow goaltender Dylan Garand and defenseman Connor Mackey – when the Rangers realized that neither Shesterkin nor Quick would be able to play against the Wild.
Laviolette didn’t reveal much about how long his top two goalies might be out. Shesterkin is dealing with soreness after suffering an undisclosed injury in last Thursday’s win over Carolina. He did take part in about half of Monday’s practice and in Tuesday’s optional morning skate, and he was the only goalie skating in Wednesday’s lightly attended optional practice.
Quick, 37, made 35 saves in last Saturday’s 5-4 shootout loss to Minnesota and 25 saves in Tuesday’s win over Detroit, but he unofficially has been dealing with an upper-body injury since then. Both he and Shesterkin are considered “day-to-day,’’ according to Laviolette, who said he has no concerns about either being out for an extended period.
After Thursday’s game, the Rangers play Sunday against Columbus and then do not play again until next Saturday, when they visit the Devils. That long break should help the team’s injured players in their recovery, Laviolette said.
“I do think that [break] comes at a good spot,’’ Laviolette said. “You see some of the personnel that's missing from the lineup [in addition to the goaltenders, defenseman Adam Fox is on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury and center Filip Chytil on injured reserve with an upper-body injury].
“I think that that break is a good thing, and we can reassess and take a look at it at that point. But that doesn't necessarily mean that everybody's out through that. It's just day-to-day.’’
Domingue will become the first right-handed-catching goaltender to start a game for the Rangers since Glen Hanlon in the 1985-86 season.
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.
