For Igor Shesterkin, Tuesday night’s performance was in response to Sunday’s.
The Russian netminder was sharp, tracked pucks at an elite level and when it was time to shut the door and wrap up the win, that’s exactly what Shesterkin did in order to secure the Rangers’ 3-1 victory over the Stars at Madison Square Garden and extend his team’s win streak to eight games.
“They were playing like they didn’t want to settle for the game and just go away and have it be a loss and they pushed,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “Our best guy was Shesty in net tonight and he did everything that he needed to do to make sure we got the win.”
Shesterkin had the Garden faithful chanting his name more than once in this one.
And when the Rangers were on their heels defending a one-goal lead in the third period, over which they were outshot 17-6, it was Shesterkin who withstood the siege and preserved the lead.
He even made back-to-back saves on Dallas star Tyler Seguin, one with the tip of his skate and the other by stretching his stick across the goal line, in the final minutes of regulation.
“I just tried to play until the end,” said Shesterkin, who saved 41 of the 42 shots he saw. “If he [went] high, it [would] be goal, so I was lucky tonight.”
The self-deprecation has become a defense mechanism for Shesterkin, who holds himself to the highest of standards and hasn’t been satisfied with his play this season.
His 23 wins still rank sixth in the NHL, and he has allowed two or fewer goals in 17 of those victories.
It was clear that the five goals he gave up on 41 shots in the 6-5 overtime win against the Islanders in the Stadium Series matchup at MetLife Stadium on Sunday were still on his mind Tuesday.
And yet, Shesterkin is 4-0-0 with a 2.26 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage in the month of February.
“It was a really good experience,” he said. “I hope everyone enjoyed. I know two guys who [didn’t] enjoy it a lot, me and [Islanders goalie Ilya] Sorokin. We just tried to have a good game for the fans. A lot of goals.”
As a result of Shesterkin’s heroics Tuesday, the Rangers were able to grind out a win against the top team in the Central Division.
The last time the Rangers had a winning streak of eight games or more was during the 2015-16 season.
And it wasn’t like the Stars, who lost their third in a row, played a bad game, either.
The Rangers played a physical game, were strong along the boards and received an empty-net goal from Vincent Trocheck in the third period to put the game out of reach.
More than doubling the Stars’ hit total, 27-12, the fourth line of Matt Rempe (5), Barclay Goodrow (3) and Adam Edstrom (4) spearheaded the physical effort.
“I think there’s a lot of good things we’ve been doing right now,” said Kaapo Kakko, who scored the game-winning goal during four-on-four play at the 8:23 mark of the second period to double the Rangers’ lead after Adam Fox’s first-period tally. “Today, I think both goalies have been playing crazy, especially Shesty today. Some big saves.”
