The New York Rangers are getting a key reinforcement back in the lineup as the club looks to rectify a catastrophic stretch of futility over the past month and a half. Igor Shesterkin will return from injury and is slated to start against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, head coach Peter Laviolette confirmed.

The Russian star has missed each of New York's last four games due to an upper-body injury; he hasn't played since December 30, when he allowed four goals in a 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers.

Jonathan Quick will be relegated to backup duties after starting three of the last four games, while Louis Domingue was sent back down to the American Hockey League's Hartford Wolf Pack.

After a hot start to the campaign — along with his team — Shesterkin was struggling before suffering the ailment. The 29-year-old is 11-15-1 in 2024-25, managing a 3.10 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in that span.

New York signed Shesterkin to an eight-year, $92 million contract extension in December; he captured the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender at the conclusion of the 2021-22 campaign.

Overall, Shesterkin is 146-74-18 in his NHL career with 16 shutouts, a 2.50 GAA and a .919 SV% in 240 career appearances, all with New York.

After starting the season 12-4-1, things have completely fallen off the rails for a Rangers team that is now seventh place in the Metropolitan Division.

Rangers continue to fade away in Eastern Conference

Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (14) celebrates his game winning goal against the New York Rangers during the overtime period at Madison Square Garden.
Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images

On November 19, the Rangers were one of the top teams in the National Hockey League and looked well-positioned to make a run at back-to-back President's Trophy's. But after losing five in a row right afterwards, New York has still not been able to recover.

Stunningly, Laviolette's club has won just six times since a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on November 19. The nightmare has just continued to snowball, with Jacob Trouba getting traded, Chris Kreider being healthy scratched and then getting injured, and Matt Rempe being handed an eight-game suspension for a dirty hit on Dallas Stars defensemen Miro Heiskanen in December.

It feels like anything that could go wrong, has gone wrong for a Rangers team that is now 18-20-2 and four points back of the final wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference. After a disappointing 5-4 overtime loss to Dallas on Tuesday night, New York has lost nine of 11 games.

Arthur Kaliyev will look to be part of the solution after he was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings on Monday; he could make his team debut on Thursday. If so, he'll take Filip Chytil's place; the 25-year-old is still being evaluated after sustaining an upper-body injury in Tuesday's loss. Rempe will also draw back into the lineup after serving his eight-game suspension.

With Shesterkin back between the pipes, the Rangers will look to finally start building some positive momentum going forward. Although it's been an abysmal month and a half, New York is still very capable of making a postseason push over the next three months.

Puck drops between the Rangers and Devils just past 7:00 p.m. ET from MSG on Thursday night.