Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin, after two failures in a row, played the next match of the first round of the playoffs against Pittsburgh in its entirety and saved the team from an early end to the season. Although he did not start the game very confidently, in the third period the Russian mothballed his net, extending the Rangers’ fight for the Stanley Cup. Is Igor back?

Even before the start of the Rangers-Pittsburgh series, it was clear that Shesterkin’s reliable play would make a huge contribution to the outcome of the confrontation and clearly tip the scales in the direction of the club from New York. Therefore, it is not surprising that two consecutive removals of the main goalkeeper from the matches marked two defeats for the Rangers and put them on the brink. The fifth meeting at Madison Square Garden could have been their last in the round if the team had not been able to pull themselves together.

But she did it. And, first of all, Shesterkin succeeded, who, despite two matches completed ahead of schedule, went on the ice from the first minutes. Rangers mentor Gerard Gallan expressed unshakable faith in his main goalkeeper even after the previous match, assuring everyone that it was Igor who would start the next match. The Russian simply did not have the right to let down the one who believes in him so much. As well as the native audience, which, unlike Pittsburgh fans, does not allow itself to chant the name of the goaltender in a mocking manner.

Charged for the fifth meeting, Shesterkin started it with a grandiose glove save in a 3-on-5 shorthanded game – he caught the puck after a shot from Chris Letang from the right, just by raising his hand. Crazy reaction!

But the guests still opened the scoring in the 11th minute, and forward Jake Gyuntsel did it, who became a real thorn in the eye of our goalkeeper. He scores in every match of the series, constantly finding a way to outwit Shesterkin. This time he used a technique that Kirill Kaprizov had already implemented in the current playoffs: while outside the goal, the attacker threw the puck in the goalkeeper’s leg in the hope of a successful rebound into the goal. So, in fact, Shesterkin himself opened the scoring in the meeting.

Igor Shesterkin / Photo: © Brad Penner / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

The second period turned out to be not only rich in goals – as many as 5 goals in different nets, but was also marked by a tough force on the Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby, who received a powerful blow to the head on the counter move. After that, the Canadian forward, who had already scored 9 points in this series, ended the game ahead of schedule. At this time, the Rangers not only bounced back, losing two goals, but ended the period in a draw – 3:3. Two assistant points were chalked up by Evgeni Malkin, one by Artemy Panarin.

For the third period, Shesterkin went to war – all or nothing. “Pittsburgh” very inopportunely stepped up, putting all its attacking power into this twenty-minute period. The Penguins managed to throw the opponent with a score of 15:11, but they failed to turn the chances into goals: Shesterkin stood like a wall at his turn. He made a couple of impressive saves, giving his partners an unspoken command – forward and only forward!

And they took advantage of this parting word, hitting Pittsburgh with two goals. It was the third period that became decisive in the Rangers’ cup fate, and the entire match became the most important in Shesterkin’s cup career. But all this will be repeated on Saturday night, when the teams will meet again in Pennsylvania, because the score in the series – 3-2 – is still in favor of the Penguins.