Heading into the first-round series between the Rangers and Penguins, the goaltending advantage was firmly in the New York net.
The Rangers were starting Igor Shesterkin, the favourite for the Vezina Trophy, while the Penguins were without all-star starter Tristan Jarry due to injury. To make matters worse for the Penguins, backup Casey DeSmith suffered a season-ending injury in Game 1, leaving well-travelled veteran Louis Domingue as the last line of defence.
But through three games and two periods, that narrative has been completely flipped — although Shesterkin isn’t entirely to blame.
Shesterkin was pulled for the second-straight night in Monday’s Game 4 when Alexandar Georgiev took over to start the third trailing 6-2. This marks the first time in his career that Shesterkin has been pulled in back-to-back games after Georgiev played the final two periods in Saturday’s Game 3 loss.
Penguins fans could be heard chanting “We want Igor” after the swap was made, a symbol of how quickly things have changed.
Shesterkin stood on his head in Game 1, making 78 saves in a triple-OT loss — the second-most saves in any game in NHL history. He then made 39 stops in a Game 2 win but things have unravelled in the last two games.
In Game 3, he allowed four goals on just 15 shots before being pulled. In Game 4, it was six goals against on 30 shots. Of course, a team can’t just blame the goalie when they go down 6-2 in 40 minutes. As Shayna Goldman pointed out, the Penguins were doing a much better job getting to the slot than the Rangers in Game 4, leading 15-0 in 5-on-5 high danger scoring chances.
Still, the Rangers are running out of chances to keep their season alive with a do-or-die Game 5 scheduled for Wednesday at MSG.
“I expect him to be outstanding,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said of Shesterkin on Sunday.
For the Rangers to come back in this series, he’ll have to be.
