The smile is hiding underneath, and the sense of humor is there, too. But Igor Shesterkin exudes the most Russian stoicism as possible, even in moments like this.
“I feel great,” Shesterkin briefly said in English after he made 27 saves en route to his fourth win in five career starts, backstopping the Rangers to a 5-3 victory over the offensively dynamic Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at the Garden. “Hockey is fun.”
Almost every time the Rangers (26-22-4) went into their lapses of sloppy play, Shesterkin was there. With Chris Kreider coming back from his one-game absence due to a neck ailment, the Blueshirts were dynamic — if imperfect — from the net out. It was a nice rebound from the rude awakening the Stars brought into the Garden on Monday night.
“Anytime you lose a player like Kreids, you’re going to notice it,” said Kreider’s center, Mika Zibanejad. “And you’re going to notice when he comes back.”
So while the trade speculation around Kreider swirls, the Rangers are still dealing with three goaltenders playing musical chairs. One thing that is becoming inevitably clear is the Blueshirts keep managing to win when the 24-year-old Shesterkin is in nets — just as his teams won a lot in the KHL, and just as the Wolf Pack won a lot when he started this first pro season of North American hockey in the AHL.
“This guy has been a very good goalie — a great goalie — at every level,” said coach David Quinn, who had Henrik Lundqvist backing up in this one and Alex Georgiev watching from the press box. “He’s not a 20-year-old guy out of college or junior hockey. He’s proven to be a great pro over in Russia, he was a great pro in the American League, he’s been a great pro for us so far.
Igor Shesterkin makes one of his 27 saves during the Rangers’ 5-3 win on Wednesday night.Paul J. Bereswill“I learned what I thought I knew before he got here, and he’s just confirmed it.”
The Maple Leafs (28-19-7) were showing their weakness, with a lack of strength on the wing and a lack of depth on the back end. But they were also showing their offensive explosiveness, right from the chance Auston Matthews had six minutes into the game, which was denied when Shesterkin went post-to-post in a flash.
It was the same early in the second period, when Shesterkin made it look easy by getting his blocker over and down low enough to quickly stop Zach Hyman on what seemed like a wide-open chance from the left porch. That save preserved the Rangers’ 3-1 lead, staked by two goals in six seconds from Zibanejad and Kreider late in the first, following opening tallies from John Tavares and Filip Chytil in the first 8:50 of play.
“Good team,” Shesterkin said through an interpreter. “The most important thing is we were able to win.”
Victory wasn’t always a given, as Matthews got one on a quick backhand that surprised Shesterkin at 16:54 of the second to make it 3-2, but then Pavel Buchnevich got his fourth goal in the past five games when he beat deficient backup goalie Michael Hutchinson on a low shot from the slot at 17:30 to make it 4-2.
“We scored the necessary goals,” said Zibanejad, whose line with Kreider and Buchnevich combined for seven points. “It was a good day.”
Hutchinson’s play in place of injured starter Frederik Andersen — a lot worse than it sounds in allowing four goals on 34 shots — is one big reason that Toronto had been linked to interest in Georgiev before trading for the Kings’ Jack Campbell following Wednesday night’s game.
After Greg McKegg sealed it into the empty net, it was clear that one reason Georgiev may end up being expendable is because of the way Shesterkin has proven to be ready for this stage, ready to live up to the cross-Atlantic hype, and ready, maybe, to be the heir apparent to Lundqvist that so many had predicted for years.
“It’s always good to get great goaltending, and we got timely, great goaltending,” Quinn said. “It was a great win for us.”
And just another win in the pile for Shesterkin.
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