Welcome to the new era of Rangers versus Islanders: Igor versus Ilya.

Thursday’s gem of a St. Patrick’s Day game, a 2-1 Islanders victory, was not the first time New York’s pair of star Russian goaltenders faced off. But it was the first time they did so on Broadway, the first time they did so in front of a full house, and the first time they made it count.

“This could be, you look at the [Sidney] Crosby/[Alexander] Ovechkin thing, maybe it’s an Ilya/Igor thing,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said Thursday morning.

That was before Ilya Sorokin turned in a 29-save effort that — starting with a highlight-reel paddle save on Artemi Panarin about five minutes into the game, falling backwards to his right to stop a one-timer from the left circle — won the game for the Islanders.

Of that particular moment, Trotz said: “Holy,” then mouthed a four-letter word. “Yes. It might have been one of the best, if not the best save I’ve seen in a long time. And I’ve been around a long time.”

Mathew Barzal said: “I mean, are you kidding me?”

Anders Lee said: “It was incredible. You could even hear the whole crowd clap for that one after the replay.”

It was only the beginning of the show.

Soon, Sorokin was making a pad save on Chris Kreider from the slot then stoning him on a breakaway. He stopped a Filip Chytil one-timer on the doorstep in between and the 18,006 at the Garden who should have been watching a romp but instead walked into a coming-out party were stupefied.

Not to be outdone, Igor Shesterkin came up with a couple moments of his own, particularly a pair of third-period stops on Noah Dobson and Oliver Wahlstrom that ignited the crowd. The highlight reel, though, was Sorokin’s alone. So was the win.

The final score was Islanders 2, Rangers 1. More accurately, it was Sorokin 29, Shesterkin 26. If it’s the first highlight in a long rivalry, it is a hell of a good one.

“We know that Igor Shesterkin has been getting a lot of hype in the Hart [Trophy] conversation and whatnot,” Barzal said. “But we know that we have two guys [Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov] that every night give us a good chance.”

Thursday, that translated to a fourth Islanders win in five games, a fifth straight game with points and the club getting above NHL-.500 for the first time since late January.

It should not be the last time we see Sorokin and Shesterkin going at it like this.

Both goaltenders are 26. Both hail from Russia. Both figure to be with their respective clubs for quite some time. According to Trotz, the two are good friends, though neither spoke to reporters on Thursday to provide confirmation.

This could turn into something quite fun.

“They were both great,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “They both made some real good saves, and [Sorokin] was outstanding.”

Thursday, they were worthy of each other. It’s just one game. But, you can hope, it’ll be one of many.

“They’re just starting out,” Trotz said. “And it’s pretty exciting for the game of hockey and for this area, especially.”