Igor Shesterkin has been solid in net since night he was bedeviled

The last time the Rangers played the Devils, on Nov. 28, their season just about bottomed out. Coming off a game in which they blew a three-goal lead in the third period against Edmonton and lost, the Blueshirts blew a two-goal lead against New Jersey and lost.

Afterward, goaltender Igor Shesterkin took responsibility, saying he’d “played a [expletive] game again’’ and adding that he was “ashamed’’ of how he was playing.

Two weeks later, as the Rangers faced the Devils on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, the team and the goalie were in a better place.

The Rangers went 4-1-1 between the two meetings with Lindy Ruff’s Devils. Shesterkin went 3-0-1 with a .933 save percentage and 2.16 goals-against average. The Rangers were 14-10-5 entering Monday’s game and had a tenuous hold on the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Coach Gerard Gallant was willing to say his team had turned things around since that first Devils game, but he didn’t want to say that Shesterkin necessarily had.

“I’m not going back that far,’’ Gallant said after Sunday’s practice when asked if Shesterkin seemed to pick up his game during the last two weeks. “The last two games [against Vegas and Colorado], Igor has really put our team on his shoulders. He’s carried us, he’s played great hockey. He’s made some key saves at key times. And that’s what we need, you know?

“He can’t do it every night, obviously. But the last two games, he’s been outstanding, and you know, you need great goaltending to win in this league, and that’s what he’s done for us. He’s had the odd bad game here and there — very, very odd — but he’s our top player.’’

Shesterkin didn’t want to talk about his mood after that Nov. 28 game nor about whether he thinks he’s been more focused and sharper since then. But it’s apparent that, while he’s been fine all season (13-4-4, .917 save percentage, 2.50 GAA), he hasn’t been as routinely spectacular as he was last season in winning the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender.

On Sunday, though, he seemed more relaxed and at ease than he has for most of the season. A three-game winning streak certainly has something to do with that.

“I think we got some confidence,’’ he said.

Fourth-line forward Sammy Blais agreed that the Rangers started to play better after the first Devils game.

“Seriously, it feels like we have more energy in the locker room and on the ice,’’ he said. “We had those three big wins in a row. So I think if we play our game and everyone chips in, I think we can beat anyone.’’

Shesterkin, who was annoyed when he and the Rangers lost in a shootout to his former backup, Alexandar Georgiev, and Colorado at the Garden on Oct. 25, was able to get Georgiev and the Avalanche back during last week’s road trip. Shesterkin had 41 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped both shootout attempts by Colorado in the Blueshirts’ 2-1 victory on Friday.

In the first Devils game, Shesterkin made 33 saves on 37 shots in a 5-3 loss. The first Devils goal, a backhander by Tomas Tatar from the wing on a rush, was one a sharper Shesterkin likely would have stopped. He probably would have liked to have stopped Jack Hughes’ semi-breakaway goal that made it 3-2 as well.

But on Sunday, Shesterkin insisted he wasn’t stewing about that and had no special need to beat the Devils on Monday.

“For me, [revenge] doesn’t matter,’’ he said. “I just want to win the game.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.