Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin trying to get back on track

Is there something wrong with Igor Shesterkin?

Absolutely not, says Rangers coach Gerard Gallant.

“Everything’s great,’’ the coach said Saturday, when asked about his No. 1 goaltender.

But something does seem to be different of late with Shesterkin, who was back in goal Sunday night, looking to get himself and the Rangers back on the winning track when the Blueshirts hosted the Philadelphia Flyers at the Garden.

A few weeks ago, Shesterkin seemed a shoo-in for the Vezina Trophy, as the NHL’s best goaltender, and was even making a case to be considered by voters for the Hart Trophy, as well, as the league’s Most Valuable Player. At that point, he was 28-6-3, with a goals-against average under 2.00, and a save percentage above .940.

But in his last eight starts before Sunday, Shesterkin went 4-4, was pulled from the net twice, and allowed 22 goals on 194 shots over a total of 418 minutes. That’s a save percentage of .886 and a goals-against average of 3.16, hardly Vezina Trophy-winning numbers.

Gallant didn’t want to hear it.

“I don't go back eight games,’’ the coach said. “I still think he's been the best goalie in the league all season long. I couldn't fault him in any of those goals [in Friday's 3-0 loss to the Isles]. We didn't score a goal to win. So, no, there's nothing wrong with ‘Shesty.’’’

Entering Sunday, Shesterkin was 32-10-3 on the season, with a 2.13 goals-against average that was second in the league, and a .934 save percentage that was best in the league. So he still may be the frontrunner to win the Vezina, and maybe the eight games before Sunday just represent a normal dip that is bound to occur to every player at some point over the long grind of the 82-game NHL season.

But what if there’s something more there? What if there’s something Gallant, director of goaltending Benoit Allaire, and the Rangers have been doing that they now need to change in order to get Shesterkin back to where he was three weeks ago?

Shesterkin seemed to thrive when he was carrying a heavy workload. He started 17 of the Rangers’ first 22 games – going 12-3-2 – before a groin injury sidelined him for a little more than three weeks. Then, he started three of four (going 2-1) before a bout with COVID-19 sidelined him for three more games.

Once he came back from that, though, he started 16 of the next 19 games, going 13-2-1, before Gallant gave Alexandar Georgiev the start in Minnesota on Mar. 8, in a game that wasn’t part of a back-to-back. Shesterkin started the next game, Mar. 10 at St. Louis, but was pulled 15 seconds into the second period after allowing four goals on 17 shots. None of the goals he allowed in that game  could have been deemed to be “soft,’’ but up until that point he’d been practically superhuman in making some of the improbable saves he did to steal games for the Rangers, or at least keep them in it until they somehow found a way to win.

So is something different? Is it possible that by not playing every game (he’d started 8 of 12 before Sunday) Shesterkin had somehow fallen out of rhythm? Might it be better if he played more down the stretch?

Or might he have played a little too much early on, and now needs a little more rest? Shesterkin had played in 45 games before Sunday, more than he’d played in any season prior to this one.

Or could it simply be that his level of play was so high for so long that this last stretch has been simply a correction of sorts, bringing his numbers back to where they should have been all along? 

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.