Six days and two skimps on tournament prep work, David Quinn said, “I think this is a good time to reevaluate where we are and go from there,” in regards to competition, to be the game’s starting goalkeeper. . 1 against Carolina.
However, the fact remains that the Rangers are in the same spot regarding their No. 1 as when the coronavirus season began on March 12.
Which means No. 31, Igor Shesterkin.
Henrik Lundqvist, for the most part, has been pretty good. Alex Georgiev has been fine. But neither of them has overshadowed Shesterkin to the degree that would have been necessary for Quinn and the Rangers to change course.
In fact, neither has overshadowed the 24-year-old rookie, with Shesterkin showing the same skill and effectiveness as he was 10-2 with a 2.52 goal against average and a .932 save percentage leading the Rangers at the apex of the playoffs and entry to this unique tournament. Neither talent nor personality faded in the slightest during the four-month hiatus.
“Obviously I am working hard every day, playing 100 percent, working hard to reach that goal to return, but it all depends on the coaching staff,” Shesterkin said through interpreter Nick Bobrov, director of European exploration for the Blueshirts, when asked about the competition. “The bottom line is that I am very happy to return. Whatever happens, I’m going to support my teammates. “
Shesterkin was a little more than two weeks removed from the February 23 car crash in Brooklyn, in which he and Pavel Buchnevich suffered injuries, when the season stopped. The goalkeeper had missed six games recovering from an undisplaced rib fracture before returning for two starts. He was retired after allowing five goals at 39:06 against the Islanders at the Garden on March 7, but he excelled three nights later in a 4-2 win at Dallas.
“After the accident, I got back to training pretty quickly. The first game was regular and then it was back to normal, ”said the netminder, who spent the break in Miami. “I trained very hard during the pandemic with my personal trainer, so my fitness is 100 percent.
“Now the key is to get him on the ice and work on psychological things and do the right thing on the ice. I feel like I’m getting there really fast. “
Shesterkin said he spent the break here instead of returning to Russia with his wife, Anna, after struggling to register his dog for the flight home.
“We did not want to register the dog in the trunk,” he said. “So we had to stay and we ended up spending that time in Miami. We are very happy to have made that decision. “
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While in South Florida, Shesterkin had a chance to skate with Alex Ovechkin a couple of times. Maybe that will give the netminder an edge on the next timer from the top of the left circle from number 8. Or maybe not. If that was the trick, Lundqvist probably would have spent his last 15 summers in Moscow instead of Gothenburg.
“It was obviously a great, very positive experience,” said Shesterkin. “Due to the circumstances that I only skated with him twice, there were a lot of Russian NHLers there. It was a wonderful experience.”
Shesterkin came and played with such mastery that he never seemed like a rookie. Of course, he had brought his star with him from Russia. You may have only 12 sets of NHL experience, but you have 16 sets of KHL playoff experience on your resume.
“My learning experience started at AHL and obviously I learned a lot there,” Shesterkin said on the Zoom call. “When they called me [on Jan. 6]I watched NHL players deal with wins and losses and learned psychologically perhaps not to hit myself too much, too often, and to be able to keep up with the punches.
“Maybe it came with age and maturity, but it was definitely helpful to learn from the boys in the locker room.”
The Rangers were a more effective and efficient team with Shesterkin on the net. His ability to swallow discs and move discs out of harm’s way was an important factor in improving the team’s defensive structure. Hurricanes are a pressure team that furiously controls and funnels everything to the network, so those attributes are definitely a factor in determining who will get the call on August 1.
All things remain the same, hope it’s Shesterkin. The tough decision for Quinn will come if the goalie looks bad in Game 1 (or maybe Game 2, with Game 3 running as a back-stage), or if there is an injury.
Then, and only then, will it be time to re-evaluate.
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