Igor Shesterkin returned from injured reserve after missing four games with an upper-body injury and led the Rangers to a 3-2 overtime win over the Devils at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. and showed a solid performance.
Shesterkin made 21 saves, including 11 in the first period, giving the Rangers' offense enough time to win in OT.
“[Shesterkin] He came back and played well,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought the players in front of him also played very well.”
The goaltender hasn't played since getting injured Dec. 30 against the Panthers.
The Rangers, who were on a four-game losing streak at the time, won two of four games in Shesterkin's absence, but will need their star goaltender to get anything done this season.
They also need to get better results when he's on the ice, and they accomplished that on Thursday.
He played in 27 games this season, recording 11 wins, 15 losses, and 1 draw, with an average of 3.10 points and a save percentage of .906.
He was replaced in three games by backup Jonathan Quick and one game by Louis Domingue, who was sent back to Hartford to make room for Shesterkin.
Shesterkin's injury comes less than a month after he signed an eight-year, $92 million extension with the Rangers, making him the highest-paid goaltender in NHL history.
“It was nice to see him again,” Artemi Panarin said. “It gave us confidence.”
Matt Lempe returned from an eight-game suspension imposed by the NHL on Dec. 20 after taking a brutal hit against Dallas' Miro Heiskanen.
Rempe was on ice for 7 minutes, 47 seconds.
Laviolette called them “good minutes. He tried to play physical.”
It will be a challenge for Rempe, who has been suspended twice by the league.
His return also came against a Devils team that has significant history with Rempe.
He received his first suspension last season for a high elbow on Jonas Siegenthaler, and was also ejected in April against New Jersey for helping to spark a brawl during the opening confrontation at MSG. .
Thursday was Lempe's sixth game for the Rangers this season, but he failed to draw a penalty.
Artur Kaliyev, who was placed on waivers by the Rangers on Monday, made his debut with the team on Thursday and played 8 minutes, 31 seconds.
“It was good to have him in there,” Laviolette said of the 23-year-old. “He's been out for a long time with an injury and it's going to take him a minute or so to get back in shape. He can skate and move the puck. It was a good day for him.”
Kaliyev, who scored 35 career goals in parts of four seasons with the Kings, spent part of his childhood on Staten Island, watching Rangers games at MSG.
He played in just five games for Los Angeles' AHL affiliate in Ontario before being placed on waivers after returning from a broken collarbone during the preseason.
He was placed on IR after Chris Kreider was placed on IR with an upper-body injury, but Kaliyev eventually replaced Filip Sztil in the lineup.
Sitil missed Tuesday's game with an upper-body injury and slipped before Thursday's skate. According to Laviolette, the fact that he was on the ice was “progress.”
The coach added that a timetable for Sitil's return has not yet been determined, but “it's good to have him on the ice.”
Jimmy Vesey was a healthy scratch.
