Igor takes his game to another dimension

Henrik Lundqvist wandered over from the MSG Networks studios next door to watch — in person with his wife and children — the Rangers try yet again to keep their season alive. The future Hall of Fame netminder’s thoughts as he watched successor Igor Shesterkin were not for public consumption until the postgame show.

But No. 30 (ret.) almost certainly said to himself as he sat in Madison Square Garden, “I never had a night like that.”

Few goalies have.

Shesterkin willed himself into seemingly all facets of Saturday night’s 5-2 win over the Hurricanes in Game 6 of their second-round series — even getting physical to take an interference penalty — as the Rangers improved to 4-0 this postseason in elimination games.

No. 31 (ret. in 15 years or so?) did his primary job by making 37 saves, many of the spectacular variety. That included denying Sebastian Aho as he broke free up ice seconds before Tyler Motte gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 7:22 of the first period. Still in the first, Shesterkin stopped Nino Niederreiter low in the slot, then, while lying on his stomach, gloved Jordan Martinook’s shot from the right at 15:39. At 9:07 of the third period, he made a pad save on Vincent Trocheck at the crease, then used his glove to snatch Trocheck’s rebound try.

Shesterkin also assisted on two of the Rangers’ goals, leaving it for defenseman Adam Fox, who fed Mika Zibanejad for a power-play goal to make it 2-0 at 9:51 of the first period. Then he passed the puck to Alexis Lafreniere, who fed Filip Chytil to lift a backhander for a 4-1 lead at 6:47 of the second period.

Shesterkin became the fifth goalie in NHL history with two assists in a playoff game and, with three assists in this postseason, he became the Rangers’ all-time leader in that category, surpassing John Vanbiesbrouck.

And after all that, Shesterkin stood up and used his stick and blocker to knock down Seth Jarvis as he tried to get behind the Rangers’ crease at 17:42 of the second. That’s illegal, but it still endeared Shesterkin — just the second goalie in NHL history with two assists and a penalty in one game — to the sellout Garden crowd even more.

So did drawing an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty from ex-Rangers villain Tony DeAngelo at 10:22 of the third period.

“I-Gor. I-Gor. I-Gor.”

Shesterkin will hear that again — only in a derisive manner — in Monday night’s Game 7 in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the Hurricanes are 7-0 in these playoffs.

Who is in the opposite net may be a (slight) question for the Hurricanes after Antti Raanta gave up three goals on 13 shots and was pulled. Rookie Pyotr Kochetkov came on in relief, but it’s hard to imagine Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour putting the 22-year-old Russian in to start a Game 7 over Raanta, who has a .965 save percentage at home in the playoffs.

But there’s also the (slight) possibility that Hurricanes No. 1 goalie Frederik Andersen could return from a lower-body injury that has kept him out since April 18 (which would recall the Penguins’ Tristan Jarry in the first round).

Whomever the Rangers are shooting at, their Game 6 victory can’t be a home-ice mirage, a product of a hyped-up crowd fueling their backs-against-the-wall desperation. This can’t be elite skaters freed from stifling defensive matchups because the opposing coach didn’t have the last change.

The Rangers won on Saturday night because they didn’t play “tired” hockey, coach Gerard Gallant’s cutting assessment of his team’s performance in Thursday night’s 3-1 road loss in Game 5.

And they won because Shesterkin was good enough for one to think he could possibly supplant Andrei Vasilevskiy as the playoffs’ best netminder — and what a goalie matchup that would be if the Rangers can advance to face the Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals.

But first things first. The Rangers have a final chance to get it done on the road.