The Rangers are headed to Pittsburgh on an even playing field. 

While goalie Igor Shesterkin deserves a bulk of the credit for knotting their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series 1-1, the Rangers were energized despite a draining triple-overtime loss two nights earlier and managed to grind out a 5-2 victory over the Penguins on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. 

The Garden crowd has chanted Shesterkin’s name as effortlessly as they once did Henrik Lundqvist’s since the Russian netminder arrived on Broadway. And after his performances in the first two games of this series, the echoes of “I-GOR!” are probably still roaring through the concourses. 

After setting a franchise record with 79 saves in Game 1 and then recording 39 stops in Game 2, Shesterkin has totaled 118 over the past two games to tie him for the second-most combined saves by a goaltender in consecutive playoff games in NHL history. 

“Yeah, I mean, I feel great,” Shesterkin said through a translator after notching his first career NHL playoff win. “They make about as much shots during practice on me, so I’m pretty used to it.” 

Shesterkin made stop after stop in the final 20 minutes to preserve a one-goal lead that ballooned to a three-goal edge thanks to his efforts. 

First, Shesterkin denied Penguins second-line center Evgeni Malkin’s one-timer from the bottom edge of the faceoff circle. Then the 26-year-old netminder came up with a big stop on Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby on the doorstep minutes later. The Penguins outshot the Rangers 8-0 in the first five minutes of the final frame, but Shesterkin never relented. 

“I can’t say enough about him,” said Frank Vatrano, who sniped one off the rush less than two minutes after Artemi Panarin banked one in off Penguins defenseman Michael Matheson in the third period to cap the scoring. “He’s been great the entire year. To have the confidence in that goaltender and knowing if there’s a breakdown that he’s going to be there to bail you out.” 

It was evident from puck drop that the referees were going to be stingy with their whistles — not that they used them much in Game 1, either. In fact, after the end of the first period, it had been 117 minutes since the last penalty was called on Pittsburgh. The Garden crowd made sure the officials heard its displeasure, levying obscenities at the men in stripes. 

That streak ended in the middle frame and the Rangers ultimately had four power plays on the night. 

Penguins defenseman John Marino was called for cross-checking just over a minute into the second period and the Garden rejoiced. Those cheers weren’t nearly as loud as the ones that followed for Ryan Strome’s power-play goal that broke a 1-1 tie. 

With six seconds left on the power play, Strome tipped in Adam Fox’s shot from the top of the zone at 2:59. 

“It’s about time,” head coach Gerard Gallant said. “I was pretty happy we finally got some chances, for sure. … You go back to last game and I thought we should have gotten more chances. It didn’t happen, it was 4-1 last game and then tonight, it didn’t start out real good either. I was disappointed and then all of a sudden they started taking some penalties and our power play got a chance.” 

Chris Kreider gave the Rangers a two-goal lead later in the period, tipping in a Vatrano shot for his second tally of the series. But the Rangers continued to struggle in their efforts to contain Crosby and linemates Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust, who combined for 17 shots on goal. 

Crosby made his way to the net and took on several Rangers in the process, resulting in a tremendous individual effort that led to him cleaning up a Rust rebound for the 3-2 score with 1:26 left in the second. 

“It’s next guys up, whoever’s playing against that line has got to do a good job,” Gallant said. “I think overall, we contained them a little bit. But they’re great players, Guentzel and Crosby are good players. That top line is a real top line and they’re tough to defend.”