Recap: Shesterkin Stands Tall in 2-1 Win Over Senators

Hungry for a bounce back win, the Rangers needed a better effort than what they showed in their most recent outing if they were going to pick up a pair of points against a fiery Senators squad. While it was far from a perfect bounce back, they did more of the little things right and got a ton of help from their superstar netminder to shut down the Senators and get the weekend started with a win. 

1st Period:

It would take the Rangers just three minutes to put themselves on the board. A great effort from Alexis Lafrenière on the forecheck forced a turnover which set up Artemiy Panarin perfectly for a shot through a screen. His laser of a wrist shot beat Linus Ullmark to give his team the early 1-0 lead. 

The Senators had the potential for an odd-man rush not long after the Panarin goal following a good block on a shot from K’Andre Miller at the point. Miller did a tremendous job of getting back to break up the 2-on-1 attempt by knocking the puck off the stick of Brady Tkachuk. A much better start from Miller after a rough night in Washington a few nights prior. 

In about as ironic fashion as it could get, Sam Rosen was talking on the broadcast about how the Rangers wanted to be better with their breakouts which immediately prompted a Rangers turnover in the neutral zone. This led to Igor Shesterkin’s first big test of the night as he came up with a huge save on Josh Norris at the doorstep. 

Both teams were beginning to exchange quality chances as just prior to Norris’ scoring chance, Adam Edström had an up close break that nearly snuck through Ullmark with the Senators finding another chance on a floating puck above the Rangers’ crease, tickling the crossbar. 

With just about five minutes to go in an opening period with minimal whistles, Sam Carrick was awarded the first penalty of the game as he tripped up Zack Ostapchuk in the neutral zone. Despite one close call, the Rangers did a good job of shutting down what’s been a great power play as of late in Ottawa. Just as the teams returned to even strength, Shesterkin held the puck and Brady Tkachuk got a little too close for comfort as Ryan Lindgren was quick to go after him, generating some extra curriculars involving nearly everyone on the ice. 

That would about do it for the first twenty as the Rangers took the 1-0 lead to intermission. Good pace from both sides as shots on goal were tied at nine apiece with the Rangers winning 11 of the 19 face-offs. Despite the lead, the Senators had the edge in attempts, high danger chances and expected goals for. The Rangers however, looked much better defensively with K’Andre Miller especially standing out. Mika Zibanejad and his linemates also looked much stronger which was definitely encouraging.

2nd Period:

Through the first five minutes of the middle stanza, it was all Ottawa as the Rangers were again having some problems getting the puck out of their own end. This would go on to become the story of the period as the Rangers began to revert to some of those ineffective tendencies we saw against Washington. 

Three minutes out from the midway point of the evening, Michael Amadio tripped up Braden Schneider behind the Rangers’ net to give the Rangers their first power play of the game. After 55 seconds of failing to maintain any sort of offensive zone pressure, Chris Kreider was called for hooking which put an early end to the man advantage attempt. 4-v-4 wouldn’t help either side much as the score remained 1-0 New York through the first half. 

With seven minutes to go, the Rangers went back to the penalty kill as Adam Fox was called for hooking Drake Batherson right beside Shesterkin’s net at the goal line. With some help from their netminder, the Rangers continued to keep the Senators off the board; However the stick infractions were certainly costing them as they hadn’t really hadn’t tested Linus Ullmark all that much up to this point. 

After a mainly uneventful period, things picked up in the final minutes as Lindgren got mixed up with Travis Hamonic along the boards in a bit of an awkward play. It initially looked as if Hamonic took Lindgren down but in actuality, Lindgren attempted a reverse hit of sorts that resulted in another Rangers penalty, this time for holding. Meanwhile, Igor Shesterkin made another monstrous save to shut down Claude Giroux point blank. 

The Rangers killed off their fourth penalty of the night and held onto their lead heading into the second intermission. Igor Shesterkin was once again acting as the difference maker as Ottawa outshot the Blueshirts 12-4 through the period, now for a total 20-13 through the opening forty. This team was lucky to still be in the lead after coasting through a penalty heavy period that mixed with the tide in the face-off circle turning, made for a low possession period for New York. 

3rd Period:

Just over a minute into the third, Josh Norris was called for hooking which made for a perfect opportunity for the Rangers to regain some momentum. The top power play unit had some chances and looked much better than they did on the first partial attempt but wouldn’t get the job done. The second unit on the other hand… It’s a power play goal! 

Some great puck movement between Kaapo Kakko, Reilly Smith and Filip Chytil found Lafrenière open in the slot, allowing for him to tap the puck home for his fifth of the season. 2-0 Rangers. 

With just over ten to go in the third, Adam Fox took his second trip to the penalty box as he tripped up Ridley Greig right off a face-off. As the Rangers were back on the penalty kill, Igor Shesterkin continued to be the storyline in this one. Not only did he come up with a couple of fantastic saves throughout the first half of the period, but he had an incredible sequence on Ottawa’s power play to keep the Senators scoreless. 

Not that he was giving any indication that he needed it, Shesterkin certainly could have used some help from his teammates to close this thing out. Of course, with seven and a half to go, another odd-man rush created a chance for Tkachuk to find Adam Gaudette open for a one timer on the blocker side of Shesterkin’s crease that sailed right to the back of the net, 2-1 game. 

Credit where credit is due, Mika Zibanejad may not have gotten a point in this game but you can’t say he wasn’t trying. In the final five minutes of the third, he dove for a loose puck to try and knock it over to a teammate breaking towards the net. That’s the kind of effort you want to see from a player, especially when things haven’t been coming easily as of late. 

With 90 seconds to go, the Senators pulled Ullmark for the extra attacker where again, Zibanejad was showing a change in his performance as he came up with a big block in the final thirty seconds. Ottawa continued to push but the Rangers held off and skated away with a 2-1 win. Certainly wasn’t a picture-perfect “get right” game but it was a step in the right direction for sure. A 41-save night for Shesterkin who absolutely stole the show in this one. 

The Rangers now have ten games in the book with a solid 7-2-1 record to show for it. They’ll be back at it later this weekend as they’ll host the Islanders for a matinee matchup on Sunday.