Shesterkin Struggles in Rangers’ 5-0 Loss
Igor Shesterkin, the league’s highest-paid goaltender at the start of the season, has been struggling lately, to say the least.
For almost three weeks now, he’s been relying heavily on past accolades.
On Saturday night, in a 5-0 defeat to the Islanders at Madison Square Garden, he was outshined by his friend Ilya Sorokin. The Rangers’ offense didn’t provide a spark, leaving them still searching for their first home win.
In the season’s first six games, Shesterkin allowed just seven goals. But, remarkably—or perhaps frustratingly—since then, he’s given up 22 goals in just six games.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Quick, the backup goaltender, has been impressive in his first four outings (3-1 record with a 1.26 goals-per-game average). However, Shesterkin has managed only two wins as a starter following the initial week of the season.
“Obviously we’re upset,” Shesterkin shared after allowing four goals on 25 shots. “We just need to keep working.”
He conceded one of his goals to Bo Horvat in the first period and couldn’t deliver a pivotal save against Sorokin.
“We beat ourselves,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan remarked. “We gave them three 2-on-1 goals, including one with 30 seconds left. It’s beyond me. Our performance tonight was different from any other game. We handed them opportunities.”
There were noticeable flaws in the Rangers’ defense, allowing multiple odd-man rushes throughout the game.
Reflecting on the situation, Shesterkin proposed, “I don’t know if we feel pressure to perform at home, but we didn’t play like ourselves tonight… We can’t afford to give up those types of 2-on-1 plays if we expect to win.”
The team had previously displayed a glimmer of improvement with a win against Detroit, where Will Quill scored just 17 seconds into their first power-play opportunity, ending a frustrating stretch of 12 straight failed attempts.
Yet, on Saturday, the Rangers couldn’t capitalize on two power-play chances and even mishandled a 6-on-5 situation late in the game, resulting in Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s empty-net goal and a frustrated JT Miller slamming his stick against the post.
In other team news, Vincent Trocheck remains sidelined with an upper-body injury, missing 14 consecutive games. Defenseman Connor McKee is assigned to Hartford due to injury, and the Rangers are commemorating their 100th anniversary by honoring key figures from their history, including the families of several franchise legends.
