Igor Shesterkin yanked for second straight game in Rangers disaster

Put Igor Shesterkin’s name next to Johnny Cueto’s in Pittsburgh sports lore.

For the second game in a row, with a partisan Penguins crowd chanting his name in singsong fashion at PPG Paints Arena, Shesterkin was pulled — this time after 40 minutes on Monday. The eventual 7-2 loss put Pittsburgh ahead 3-1 in their first-round playoff series, with the Rangers having to win Wednesday’s Game 5 to stay alive.

After a disastrous second period in which Shesterkin gave up five goals and the Rangers unraveled against the Penguins, coach Gerard Gallant gave the likely Vezina Trophy winner the hook for Alexandar Georgiev.

Igor Shesterkin was pulled from a second straight game after giving up five goals in the second period in Game 5. Corey Sipkin

That followed Game 3 of the series, in which Gallant pulled him following a first period that saw him give up four goals.

Shesterkin was superlative through the regular season and the first two games of the playoffs, stopping 118 of 124 shots, but has since been a mere human.

On Monday night, he gave up multiple goals he’d like to have back — the kinds he stopped with ease all season. And as a result, the Rangers are likely to face a 3-1 deficit in the series going back home.

His final tally on Monday read six goals on 30 shots and Gallant — who said in the run-up to Game 4 that he expected Shesterkin to be back to normal after some rest — has a real decision on his hands for Game 5.