After making 33 saves in the Rangers’ 6-0 win over the Penguins at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, goaltender Igor Shestakin recorded his second shutout of the season and his first shutout since November 1. Recorded.
The win was Shestakin’s 32nd win of the season, his fifth in a row, and his 10th undefeated record in his four-year NHL career.
“Of course it means a lot to me,” Shesterkin said. “I am very happy now.”
His workload seemed to dwindle as the match progressed, but Shesterkin was sharp from start to finish.
He made back-to-back saves over Penguins Rickard Raquel and Jake Guentzel in the first period before denying Drew O’Connor from the slot at the end of the second period.
Shesterkin made only eight saves in the final 20 minutes, but didn’t give the Penguins much space.
The last few games have been Shesterkin’s best performances of the season.
He finished with a save percentage above .900 in each of his last 4 games and 6 of his last 8 games.
Shesterkin, who has stopped 146 of the 155 shots he has faced in his last five games, shows a tinge of last season’s Vezina Trophy-winning performance.
“He’s been in a pretty good rhythm the last two to about three weeks,” said head coach Gerard Gallant after the win that improved the Rangers to 40-19-10. “He played really well. [Jaroslav] Halak is going [Sunday night against the Predators], clearly. He played really well too.
“Goaltending is a big part of the stretch here. Keep playing good and keep trying to win hockey games.”
After the Rangers’ 5-3 win over the Capitals earlier this week, Shesterkin became just the second goalkeeper to reach 30 wins this season.
Shesterkin was also Rangers’ first goalkeeper since Henrik Lundqvist recorded 30 wins in four consecutive seasons from 2013-14 to 2016-17.
Ryan Lindgren (shoulder injury) has missed 10 straight games.
After playing the Predators on Sunday night, the Rangers will have Monday off before playing the Hurricanes in the Gardens on Tuesday.
