When Igor Shesterkin got back into the nets on Wednesday in Florida, it marked the goaltender’s first game since he sustained his groin injury on Dec. 3. So it was two days shy of four weeks. And it showed.
But then Friday in Tampa was better than Wednesday and then Sunday in New York was better than that one. It figures.
Shesterkin was sharper in tracking pucks. His rebound control was typically outstanding following a couple of games in which he allowed more than usual. He moved effortlessly.
“After returning, that was my best game,” the Russian, who turned 26 on Friday, said following his 38-save, 4-0 shutout victory at the Garden over the Lightning. “I wouldn’t say anything in particular got better. But I think I need to play even better than I did today.”
The goaltender did his best work on a penalty kill toward the end of the first period, protecting a 2-0 lead with a couple of stops around the net before flashing the glove with a flourish on Mikhail Sergachev’s drive from the top. Shesterkin’s most important save probably came on a pad stop on Ross Colton’s one-timer from the slot at 8:12 of the first, just 28 seconds after the Rangers had taken a 1-0 lead.
“The guy was off for quite a while,” head coach Gerard Gallant said of Shesterkin. “He never played bad in [the first two games back] but he was excellent today. That’s what you expect.”
The NHL appears to be reconfiguring schedules around the league beyond simply attempting to fit in rescheduled postponements during February’s planned break for the Olympics.
Indeed, whereas the Rangers had 15 games in March and 14 in April on the schedule as of last week, only eight games in March and eight games in April appeared on Sunday on the NHL.com schedule.
Mika Zibanejad’s third goal of the game at 16:53 of the second period was followed by the tradition tossing of hats onto the ice and then by Tampa Bay’s challenge contending that No. 93 had earlier played the puck with a high stick. The hat trick stood when the challenge was denied. Caps and chapeaus did not have to be returned to the customers by the hat-check people.
“I was just hoping that it would slide and it did,” Zibanejad said. “Less embarrassing to grab them all.”
Seven of Zibanejad’s eight career hat tricks have come with the Rangers. He’s now tied with Bill Cook for the second-most hat tricks in franchise history, trailing only Rod Gilbert’s nine. Zibanejad had one hat trick while playing for Ottawa.
The Smurf Pair of Zac Jones and Nils Lundkvist played 9:01 as a unit and was on for one goal scored and none against, though marked with allowing six scoring chances by NaturalStatTrick. … Tim Gettinger got 12:10 of ice in his first game of the season while playing left wing on the fourth line with Greg McKegg and Ryan Reaves.
Connor McDavid and the Oilers are at the Garden on Monday before a five-game trip that includes stops in Vegas, Anaheim, LA, San Jose and Philadelphia.