After the Rangers’ disappointing loss to the Ducks at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, MSG’s broadcast cameras caught Igor Shesterkin extinguishing his cane as he headed down the tunnel.
The NHL’s highest-paid goalie found himself unsupported by his teammates in the final moments of the game, marking just the tenth occasion where he’s received a goal or less from them.
“I felt really good until the last 20 seconds,” expressed Matt Lempe, who was on the ice trying to assist Pavel Minchukov in scoring. However, post-game, he vented his frustration by slamming the puck into the boards.
Anaheim had already scored into an empty net, making the lead even slimmer.
Minchukov’s goal, which came just 2.9 seconds before the final whistle, was largely due to the Rangers’ failure to maintain their intensity.
This season, despite the Blueshirts’ struggles to score in front of Shesterkin, the Russian goalie boasts a .908 save percentage, standing alongside Minnesota’s Filip Gustafsson and Boston’s Jeremy Swayman as the sixth-best among goaltenders who’ve started at least 20 games.
Shesterkin is currently in the first season of an impressive eight-year, $92 million contract with an annual cap hit of $11.5 million. The 29-year-old had his contract extended exactly a year ago, aligning with the club’s trade of former captain Jacob Trouba to Anaheim.
While the Rangers’ defense has shown improvement under head coach Mike Sullivan, Shesterkin often finds himself having to carry the team in games they might not have needed to play.
This approach is understandable for a goaltender whose career save percentage of .917 ranks second in the NHL since he joined the league in the 2019-20 season. However, with the goaltender’s record-setting average annual value, the Rangers could surely benefit from more games where Shesterkin steals the show.
According to Moneypuck.com, Shesterkin’s expected saves per game, at 14.4, ranks sixth among goalies who have started at least 20 games.
Having played in 27 of the Rangers’ 35 games so far—about 77% of the season—Shesterkin’s workload has been influenced by Jonathan Quick’s current injury status.
In fact, he only recently played back-to-back games on November 28 and 29 for just the sixth time in his career.
Despite the Rangers securing a 5-4 overtime victory last weekend, where the Canadiens managed to score three goals on just four shots, Sullivan insisted he never considered pulling Shesterkin from the game.
“I didn’t feel like any of the goals were bad,” Sullivan said, reflecting on the situation. “Some of their players were quite aggressive. Montreal has an opportunistic team that can score. There was no sense on the bench of, ‘Oh, it wasn’t Shesty’s night,’ or anything like that.”
On the second night of the back-to-back, Quick returned to start against the Canucks, marking his eighth appearance of the season.
