NEW YORK — Before Vincent Trocheck became the hero, before his stick found the loose puck in double overtime and placed it in the Carolina Hurricanes net, before the Madison Square Garden sky bridge quaked from an explosion of cheers, Igor Shesterkin needed to keep the Rangers alive. Again and again and again and again.
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Each time, each dangerous Hurricanes chance, he delivered.
Shesterkin saw 15 shots in overtime. None went in his net, buying New York enough time to break through and snag a 4-3 win. The Rangers lead 2-0 in the second round and have yet to lose in the playoffs.
They’re the hottest NHL team left standing, and they have their world-class goalie to thank.
“Igor played an Igor-esque type of game tonight,” Trocheck said. “Whenever he’s on like that, it’s tough to beat him. It’s tough to beat our team whenever he’s making saves like he was tonight.”
The Hurricanes were as dangerous, if not more, than the Rangers for most of the night. The Jake Guentzel-Sebastian Aho-Andrei Svechnikov line generated frequent offense, at times caving New York in its own end, and Carolina led 57-39 in shots. The Hurricanes got a serviceable effort in net from Frederik Andersen, who stoned Mika Zibanejad twice in overtime to keep the game going.
But Andersen, who played excellent hockey down the stretch of the season, is not Shesterkin: a Vezina Trophy-winning goalie who has a case for best in the world when he’s at his best.
Opposing coach Rod Brind’Amour called Shesterkin great in his postgame news conference. Adam Fox described him as New York’s backbone, and Rangers’ captain Jacob Trouba said that it’s perhaps never talked about enough how much Shesterkin brings to the team.
“I feel like it’s always the same thing: just the level he brings, how badly he wants to win, the commitment I think he has that not a lot of people see,” the defenseman said. “It’s not a mistake that he’s as good as he is.”
Shesterkin was engaged with the game early, and that extended beyond his crease. When Svechnikov tripped him behind the net midway through the first, the Rangers goalie followed the scrum of jostling Rangers and Hurricanes all the way to the blue line. Svechnikov gave Shesterkin a poke later in the game after he had already made a save, and the goalie leaped out of his crouch and right into his opponent’s face.
A little spice from Shesterkin towards Svechnikov pic.twitter.com/hpO1EqdyqI
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 8, 2024
It’s the playoffs, Shesterkin told reporters postgame. He has no friends on the other team.
“That’s what you want out of teammates and players,” Trouba said. “You want them to care. He cares. He shows it.”
The goals that got past Shesterkin would not have been easy saves. The first two were tip-ins, and the third came after Aho whipped a pass to Guentzel in the slot. Shesterkin got better as the night went on, coach Peter Laviolette said. The goalie, though, was far from the reason the Rangers trailed entering the third.
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Perhaps no one has better insight into Shesterkin’s capabilities than his backup, Jonathan Quick. The veteran goalie, who has won three Stanley Cups and a Conn Smythe Trophy, quickly saw how his teammate always tries to improve when he’s on the ice. That mentality hasn’t shifted as the games have risen in importance.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s April, May or September, October,” Quick said ahead of Game 2. “I think that’s what allows him to have the success he does this time of year.”
Shesterkin stopped 2.43 goals more than expected over the course of the night, according to Natural Stat Trick. His 54 saves are the most a Rangers goalie has ever had in a playoff victory. (Shesterkin had 79 saves in a first-round game against Pittsburgh two years ago, but that came in a loss.)
The degree of difficulty on his saves was not easy, either. Toward the end of regulation, with the Rangers on the power play, the Hurricanes generated a pair of dangerous looks. On one, Jordan Staal set up Seth Jarvis on a two-on-one. On the next, Jalen Chatfield fired a puck on net after a rebound.
On both, Shesterkin came through, stopping what likely would have been game-winning goals.
“You’re not always going to have your A-game for 60 minutes,” Fox said. “You need him to be sharp, for sure. Rarely is he not.”
His play continued in overtime when he halted Aho on a partial breakaway and then again on a dangerous chance in front of the net.
“When you’re in the second period, you’ve got maybe half a game to fight back (if you allow a goal),” Laviolette said. “But in overtime, those saves have to be made, and he was fantastic.”
The crowd recognized as much, chanting “I-gor! I-gor! I-gor!” at points throughout the game. Shesterkin said afterward that the synchronized cheers left him “almost crying.”
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With a player like Shesterkin, the fans’ adulation makes total sense. He gives the Rangers reason to dream, reason to believe this could be a year to reach heights they haven’t since 2014, the last time they made the Stanley Cup Final. Or, just maybe, since 1994, the last time they won.
(Photo: Jared Silber / NHLI via Getty Images)