A Great Goaltending Hope Arrives With a Win

But the first minutes of Shesterkin’s debut surely were not what he envisioned. He allowed a goal to Colorado’s J.T. Compher on the first N.H.L. shot he faced, 4 minutes 44 seconds into the game, then gave up a breakaway goal to its leading scorer, Nathan MacKinnon, two minutes later.

Shesterkin was getting a crash course in the Rangers’ bugaboo, a porous defense, a weakness that is not always a problem because of their high-scoring star, Artemi Panarin. Lundqvist and the team’s third goalie, Bulgarian-born Alexandar Georgiev, have faced barrages many times this season.

“We didn’t hesitate to give him a taste of Rangers hockey,’’ Coach David Quinn deadpanned after the contest.

Though his debut initially looked bleak, the Rangers rallied in front of Shesterkin with two goals in the first period and two more in the second to enter the third with a 4-3 lead.

Colorado pulled goalie Philipp Grubauer with 2:18 left, challenging Shesterkin to rise to the task. He smothered a loose puck in the crease, stopped Gabriel Landeskog in close and similarly denied Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen. In all, there were 13 third-period saves as the Rangers held on for a 5-3 victory, punctuated with an empty-net goal from Panarin, his team-best 23rd goal this season.

Before the game, Quinn played down any pressure on Shesterkin, who played six seasons in the Russia’s K.H.L. before arriving in North America last summer.

“I think every player feels the same kind of pressure,’’ Quinn said. “Certainly he’s earned this opportunity and we’re very excited to see him here.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/sports/hockey/rangers-Igor-Shesterkin-goalie.html?emc=rss&partner=rss