Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin exited New York's 3-2 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Monday night with an apparent lower-body injury.

Head coach Mike Sullivan said Shesterkin is still being evaluated.

"He's an important part of this team. Hopefully, it's not too serious," Sullivan said after the loss. "They're gonna do more tests."

Shesterkin sustained the injury when Utah winger J.J. Peterka drove to the net with seven minutes to play in a goalless first period. After the netminder made a pad save, Peterka's right skate made contact with Shesterkin's right leg and knocked him to the seat of his pants, with his right leg bending awkwardly underneath him, and he immediately appeared to be in a great deal of discomfort.

But after the goalie got to his feet with the help of a member of the Rangers' training staff, he was not placing any weight on his left leg. Shesterkin went straight to the dressing room, walking with assistance. The Rangers later announced he would not return.

If Shesterkin is out for any period of time, it will be a big loss for the Rangers.

"There are certain guys that drive your team, and he's one of them for us," Sullivan said. "He's an elite player at his position. I think he's one of the very best in the game. When you lose a player like that for any length of time, those types of players are difficult to replace."

"It's hard to see anyone go down," Mika Zibanejad said about the netminder's injury. "And, obviously, him, what he's done for us, and how much he means to us, that's not a good sight."

Jonathan Quick, who came on in relief, said that what went through his mind after seeing Shesterkin go down with injury was to "have his back."

“Plain and simple," Quick said. "Anywhere on the ice, when your guys go down, you need guys to step up. Step up as a group. Have their backs.”

Defenseman Braden Schneider added, "It's definitely hard to manage the emotions" after seeing Shesterkin go down.

"You don't want to lose anyone, especially Igor," he said. "He's been so great for us. It definitely sucks, and I hope he's ok."

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