Rangers need goalie Igor Shesterkin back in top form  to make playoffs

GREENBURGH — For the Rangers to make up enough ground in their last 27 regular-season games to grab a wild-card playoff spot, their stars who have underperformed have to start meeting expectations.  

That group would include goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who has been fine — and at times very good — but hasn’t quite seemed his usual otherworldly self this season.

Shesterkin, who dealt with an upper-body injury throughout the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off break, practiced fully on Thursday and declared himself ready to play when the Rangers return with back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday in Buffalo and Pittsburgh.

The Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s best goalie in 2021-22 (when he also was a finalist for the Hart Trophy for the league’s Most Valuable Player), Shesterkin signed an eight-year, $92 million contract extension in December that made him the highest-paid goalie in league history with an average salary of $11.5 million.

But as the Rangers have disappointed, Shesterkin entered the break 18-19-2 with a goals-against average of 2.87 and a save percentage of .906. Those numbers are off from his career GAA of 2.50 and career save percentage of .919.

When asked Thursday how he would assess his season, he said, “Not good so far.’’

Coach Peter Laviolette brushed off his No. 1 goalie’s harsh self-evaluation.

“We, as a group, can be a little bit critical of where we sit,’’ Laviolette said. “Sometimes goaltending is a reflection of the way the team is playing in front of you. And I’ve said that on several nights, where I just don’t think we gave our goaltenders the support that they needed.’’

The good news for Shesterkin and the Rangers is that he was struggling going into the NHL All-Star break last season but was sensational after it. He went 17-5-2 in his final 24 starts with a 2.20 GAA and .929 save percentage and all four of his shutouts after the break.

The circumstances are a little different this year, to be fair. For one thing, he’s coming off an injury this time, and for another, he doesn’t have goalie guru Benoit Allaire working with him anymore. But Shesterkin did acknowledge that getting a midseason break can be beneficial.

“I think it’s helpful for everyone because we have a lot of games, so it’s good time to be with your family, get a little rest and be ready for the rest of this season,’’ he said.

Shesterkin will need to be ready to go full speed when the Rangers return because they open their post-break schedule with three games in four nights, six in 10 and seven in 12 before the March 7 trade deadline. And they don’t have much room for error.

“So we are battling for a playoff spot,’’ Shesterkin said. “Of course, last season, it was in a better spot than this year. But I think everything is in our hands, so we can do it.’’

It will be easier to do it if Shesterkin closes the season the same way he did a year ago.

Notes & quotes: The Rangers sent D Zac Jones to AHL Hartford on Thursday for conditioning and, with Shesterkin healthy, returned G Dylan Garand to Hartford. D Matthew Robertson was called up from Hartford to replace Jones and serve as the spare defenseman.

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.