Postgame takeaways: Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin earns slump-busting shutout

NEW YORK – There was a lot to like about the Rangers’ 2-0 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday at Madison Square Garden, all of which we’ll get to throughout the course of this column.

But the most significant development was the play of Igor Shesterkin.

The Blueshirts’ No. 1 goalie didn’t face a super heavy workload, but he was tested with several high-quality shots and came through in critical moments. By stopping all 30 shots he faced, the 28-year-old earned his first shutout in his 34th appearance of the season.

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Shesterkin’s overall body of work has been underwhelming to this point, especially given how high he set the bar in his first four seasons. He entered Monday’s game with an .899 save percentage while sporting an even-more-alarming .868 in 11 starts since the calendar turned to 2024.

The Rangers had largely blamed those struggles on the defense in front of him, but their decision to sit him for three straight games spanning a stretch of two weeks spoke volumes about their true feelings. He returned to the net for Friday’s 4-3 overtime win in Chicago, but it was hard to find much to feel good about after blowing a third-period lead against the NHL’s worst team.

Monday’s shutout win over visiting Calgary was much more convincing, with Shesterkin putting forth the type of confidence-building performance he’s been seeking.

Feb 12, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) makes a save against the Calgary Flames during the second period at Madison Square Garden.

There were a couple difficult saves mixed in during a relatively light first period in which he saw only six shots, but the Flames turned up the heat with 13 shots in the second and No. 31 was on point for all of them.

The most important sequence came on a Calgary power play shortly after rookie Will Cuylle gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead, with Shesterkin stopping a screaming wrist shot from Nazem Kadri with his right blocker and a point-blank opportunity from Connor Zary with his chest.

His spirited play continued in the third period, ensuring New York its fifth straight win while outdueling Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom, who made 29 saves and played a strong game in his own right.

If Shesterkin can ride this momentum for the stretch run leading into the playoffs, the first-place Rangers (34-16-3) will feel much better about their chances.

It wasn’t just the goalie who played a major role in Monday’s win.

The Rangers dominated the first period by out-attempting Calgary, 29-12, and racking up nine high-danger scoring chances while allowing only one, according to Natural Stat Trick. But a combination of Markstrom and missed opportunities kept the game scoreless after 20 minutes.

The Blueshirts had 18 first-period attempts either blocked or off target, including four missed tries from the snake-bitten Alexis Lafrenière. But while their top-six forwards struggled to finish, the upstart third line once again played a pivotal role.

The combo of Cuylle, Jonny Brodzinski and Kaapo Kakko has been stringing solid games together lately, with all three making a contribution on New York’s go-ahead goal. It started a takeaway from Brodzinski, who flicked a no-look pass to Kakko to spring a two-on-one rush. Kakko drove the net hard and got off a tough shot that Markstrom saved, but Cuylle came in hard behind him to bang the rebound in for his ninth tally of the season.

That gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at the 12:31 mark of the second period, which Shesterkin and the defense made sure would stick. Jimmy Vesey added an empty-netter, but the close score not indicative of how lopsided the game felt for long stretches.

The one disappointment for the Blueshirts was the ongoing slump of their power play. They went 0-for-3 on Monday (although one of those PPs lasted just 19 seconds), extending their slump to 0-for-17 in their last seven games.

Head coach Peter Laviolette briefly tried shaking up the units with a more balanced approach, but by the time their third power play came along in the third period, he went back to the original PP1 of Adam Fox, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rangers takeaways: Igor Shesterkin earns slump-busting shutout