Joonas Korpisalo makes long-awaited return in hopes of stabilizing Rangers net

SEATTLE — To say the Rangers got Joonas Korpisalo back in their 18th game of the season Saturday afternoon wouldn’t be entirely accurate, considering the team barely had the Finnish netminder to begin with. Korpisalo dressed as the Rangers’ backup for one singular game — the season-opening shutout loss in Boston — before a foot infection sidelined him for the next month.The Rangers announced the 32-year-old’s timeline to return simultaneously with the season-altering news of Igor Shesterkin’s season-ending injury, which unfolded just five games after the team put Korpisalo on injured reserve.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mollie Walker about the inside buzz on the Rangers.

So for the first five and a half weeks of the season, the Blueshirts had to endure and adapt without their original goaltending plan. “It’s tough,” head coach Mike Sullivan said before Korpisalo made his Rangers debut against the Kraken.“That presents a unique challenge when both of your goalies get hurt for as long as they have to this point.

I give the guys a lot of credit.They never look for excuses.

It’s next-man-up mindset.Dylan Garand has done a real good job in goal for us, kind of taking the lead with respect to that.

To get Korpy back is huge for us.He’s obviously a quality goaltender.

It gives us the ability to share the workload a little bit.We’re excited to get him back in the mix, but I think the guys did a great job. “Nobody’s looking for excuses.

We’re trying to win with the group that we have, and the expectations don’t change.That’s the mindset.

That’s the approach we’ve all taken.” Entering Saturday’s game at Climate Pledge Arena, the Rangers had gone 5-5-1 since losing Shesterkin to a right knee injury that consisted of more than one structural issue.Shesterkin underwent his surgery, according to a source, and Sullivan has said he’s been around the tea...