{"id":532353,"date":"2026-03-31T05:56:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/532353\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:56:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:56:33","slug":"rangers-never-take-igor-shesterkins-brilliance-for-granted-in-lost-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/532353\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers never take Igor Shesterkin\u2019s brilliance for granted in lost season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin makes a save on a shot by the Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (C) in the first second at Madison Square Garden. New York, USA, Sunday, March 29, 2026. , Image 2 shows Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin #31 reacts after allowing a goal during the second period<\/p>\n

It would be understandable if games like Sunday\u2019s from Igor Shesterkin started to blend in for the Rangers, even if head coach Mike Sullivan insisted that\u2019s not the case \u2014 if, over the past six-plus seasons as he emerged as one of the best goaltenders in the league, periods like the first frame against the Panthers became expected.<\/p>\n

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When Florida kept stringing together chance after chance in the opening 20 minutes, Shesterkin single-handedly helped the Rangers avoid a deficit. He stopped all 15 chances. He ensured that by the time the offense started producing in the third period of their eventual 3-1 win<\/a>, it was enough to win a second consecutive game entering their match against the Devils at the Garden on Tuesday. And, most of all, he resembled his vintage form in a campaign when that hasn\u2019t been the case for many other Rangers.<\/p>\n

Shesterkin has allowed one goal or fewer in 90 career games, with his latest allowing him to surpass John Vanbiesbrouck and move into ninth place in Rangers history, according to the team. He\u2019s also eighth in goals saved above expected this season in the NHL (31.27), according to Evolving Hockey. The $92 million star, under contract for seven more seasons, has only continued to issue reminders of why he\u2019s an unquestioned constant, even in a year when he hit rough patches and spent time on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t ever take it for granted,\u201d Sullivan said of Shesterkin postgame Sunday. \u201cI think I\u2019ve said it on a number of different occasions that he\u2019s arguably the best goalie in the game. He makes it look ordinary with some of the saves that he makes, but they\u2019re difficult. He makes a lot of difficult saves.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin makes a save on a shot by the Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (C) in the first second at Madison Square Garden. New York, USA, Sunday, March 29, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody inside of our dressing room or inside our organization takes Shesty for granted. He\u2019s elite at what he does. He\u2019s a superstar goaltender in this league, and he gives us a chance to win each and every night with the timely saves that he makes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of his contract, and because of the standard he set during his early seasons as a starter with a Vezina Trophy nod in 2021-22 and a pair of All-Star Game appearances the next two seasons, the expectations are higher for Shesterkin than most other Rangers. He\u2019s tasked with making sure the goaltending legacy on Broadway \u2014 from Mike Richter to Henrik Lundqvist and everyone else in between \u2014 lives on. That, in past campaigns, has made his struggles amplified.<\/p>\n

But Shesterkin will carry a .912 save percentage into Tuesday\u2019s game, up from .905 last year and even with his number from their Presidents\u2019 Trophy-winning season in 2023-24. He has recorded only one shutout this year \u2014 and his bid for a second Sunday was spoiled with less than a minute remaining \u2014 but if Shesterkin can keep his goals against average at its current 2.55 or lower the rest of the season, it\u2019d mark his lowest since 2022-23.<\/p>\n

In the first period Sunday, he stopped A.J. Greer on the rush. Then, he slid across the crease to cut off Eetu Luostarinen, who was all alone behind Rangers\u2019 defense on the power play, and made a save. Shesterkin also stopped Vinnie Hinostroza \u2014 who\u2019d weaved through a cluster of players \u2014 while the Blueshirts killed that same penalty.<\/p>\n

\"Rangers<\/p>\n

Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin #31 reacts after allowing a goal during the second period. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery game, he gives us a chance to win, like I said earlier, when we don\u2019t have our \u2018A\u2019 games,\u201d defenseman Adam Fox said Sunday. \u201cHe\u2019s amazing and does that for us every night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the offseason arrives, the Rangers will have a goaltending question to answer when it comes to No. 2 on the depth chart. Jonathan Quick, the winningest American-born goaltender in NHL history, is 40 years old, on an expiring contract and dealing with a season of struggles. Dylan Garand, in just two starts, has already flashed the potential that made him the Blueshirts\u2019 top goaltending prospect.<\/p>\n

But while nothing is guaranteed in a retool, Shesterkin has provided a counter to that notion. He has remained one for the Rangers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin makes a save…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5111],"tags":[261,1503,257,3670,249,62,57,7020,5,2273,2274,1955,3328,35,5190,5193,4,36,244,33,1120],"class_list":{"0":"post-532353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-rangers","8":"tag-a-j-greer","9":"tag-adam-fox","10":"tag-dmitry-kulikov","11":"tag-dylan-garand","12":"tag-eetu-luostarinen","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-florida-panthers","15":"tag-henrik-lundqvist","16":"tag-hockey","17":"tag-igor-shesterkin","18":"tag-jonathan-quick","19":"tag-mike-sullivan","20":"tag-new-york","21":"tag-new-york-rangers","22":"tag-newyork","23":"tag-newyorkrangers","24":"tag-nhl","25":"tag-rangers","26":"tag-the-panthers","27":"tag-the-rangers","28":"tag-vinnie-hinostroza"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116322253125483325","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}