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The Rangers, while on the power play with the score tied in the second period of their 5-2 win over the Panthers on Tuesday night, regained the lead on a sequence that was jump-started by none other than goalie Igor Shesterkin.
Batting a long shot out of the air toward Artemi Panarin, Shesterkin sent the Rangers the other way with just under a minute and a half remaining in the man advantage. Panarin then sent a leading pass to Ryan Strome, who hit Chris Kreider with a slick saucer pass. Kreider sent home the 3-2 score at 17:25.
“Well I saw the puck flying toward me,” Shesterkin said through a translator after turning aside 34 of the 36 shots he faced. “So knowing the fact that it would land in front of me at a poor angle and that could lead to a dangerous rebound, I decided to try and hit it out of the air. Obviously, I sent it down the wing, which turned into a perfect goal-scoring opportunity.”
It’s far from the first time Shesterkin’s ability to play the puck has paid dividends for the Rangers. The goaltender has consistently been effective at managing pucks both behind and in front of the net, making it easier for the Rangers to break out of the defensive end and transition onto offense.
“I love Henrik [Lundqvist] to death, but that was one thing he didn’t want to do a lot of,” Kreider said. “He probably would say it wasn’t his bread and butter, necessarily. But Igor is just an outlier in terms of playing the puck. Having that element, I’ve never had that before.”
There are few NHL goalies who handle the puck as well as Shesterkin does. He said he worked on that skill when he was growing up, and now it just comes intuitively.
Asked if he wanted the assist on the play, Shesterkin said of course.
“They’ve already stolen three of mine,” he quipped.
For precautionary reasons, head coach Gerard Gallant opted to keep Filip Chytil out of the lineup Tuesday night.
Chytil missed a fifth straight game since sustaining an undisclosed lower-body injury in the Rangers’ victory over the Coyotes on Jan. 22. That is the longest he has been sidelined so far this season. He went on injured reserve and missed three games with an upper-body injury in November.
“I think he’s really close, obviously,” Gallant said ahead of the Rangers’ final game before a two-week layoff. “But for one game, you want to make sure.”
The expectation is that Chytil will be fully recovered by the Rangers’ first matchup back from the break, on Feb. 15 against the Bruins. The Rangers are also expected to get Kaapo Kakko and Adam Fox back from injured reserve at that time.
“I’d be shocked if he isn’t,” Gallant said of Chytil being ready by the Boston game.
Without Chytil, Morgan Barron was activated to the Rangers roster and slotted onto the third line next to Barclay Goodrow and Julien Gauthier. It was Barron’s ninth game of the season.
The Rangers assigned defensemen Jarred Tinordi and Tarmo Reunanen, as well as forwards Tim Gettinger and Lauri Pajuniemi, to AHL Hartford.
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