- Igor Shesterkin picked up an assist on an empty-netter in the Rangers’ 4-2 win over the Mammoth
- He scored a goalie goal in his previous start, and he went looking for another one Sunday
- Read below for video of the assist and the second empty-net attempt Mikhail Sergachev shut down
Igor Shesterkin is turning into a scoring threat.
The Rangers goalie picked up an assist on Eeli Tolvanen’s empty-net goal at 18:45 of the third period Sunday, sealing a 4-2 win over the Utah Mammoth at Madison Square Garden. That gives Shesterkin a point in back-to-back starts after he scored into an empty net against the Lightning on Thursday.
Watch the play that got him the helper:
Will Cuylle got the primary assist and Shesterkin took the secondary. Still counts.
He wasn’t done, either. Utah kept Karel Vejmelka on the bench for the final minute, and Shesterkin tried to go the length of the ice for a second career goal. Mikhail Sergachev was ready this time and cut the puck off before it could reach the net. The MSG crowd booed him for it.
Check out the attempt and the Garden’s reaction:
Shesterkin’s actual job went fine too. He made 28 saves, and the only goals he allowed were a Nick Schmaltz power-play rebound and an Andrew Peeke shot over the glove late in the third.
New York broke a 1-1 tie with three goals in the third. Gabe Perreault buried a long rebound, J.T. Miller tipped in a Vladislav Gavrikov point shot off his skates, and Tolvanen finished it into the empty net. Gavrikov also opened the scoring in the first and finished with a goal and an assist.
It was a chippy one as well. Cuylle answered for his hit on Dylan Guenther by dropping the gloves with Utah’s Jack McBain to start the third.
Here’s the goal that started all of this on Thursday:
That’s three straight wins for New York, now 3-1-0 after losing the opener in Boston. Dylan Garand handled the middle win with a shutout of the Red Wings on Friday, so Shesterkin has a point in every game he’s started since the opener.
Two points through three starts for a goalie is a strange stat line. If teams keep pulling their goalie against the Rangers, Shesterkin is going to keep shooting at that empty net.
