Shesterkin's late save helps Rangers hold off Sharks

SAN JOSE --Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves for the New York Rangers in a 2-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday.

Shesterkin preserved the win when he stopped a deflection from Logan Couture in front with 4.2 seconds remaining. The save came 13 seconds after the Sharks forward cut it to 2-1.
"That's a really good hockey team over there, and we stayed right with them, and we were just one small chance and four seconds away there," Sharks goalie James Reimer said.
Julien Gauthier and Adam Fox scored for the Rangers (9-6-4), who are 2-0-1 in their past three games.
"We played a great game tonight, I was happy with our performance," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "We played hard, had lots of scoring chances, and Reimer played outstanding."

Reimer made 41 saves for the Sharks (6-11-3), who have lost two consecutive games at home after winning three straight on the road.
"They beat us to every loose puck, they outbattled us, they outcompeted us," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "I thought our puck management wasn't great all night long, but we were at least hanging around in the first two periods. Took some penalties that put us behind the eight ball.
"It was a step back tonight. [Over] 82 games, you're going to have nights off. OK, let's see how we respond. That's the key. But we stunk. … It hasn't happened in a long time, so let's see how we respond on Monday (against the Ottawa Senators)."

Gauthier put New York in front 1-0 at 13:57 of the third period when he deflected a one-timer from Jacob Trouba off a face-off win by Ryan Carpenter.
"We were a little frustrated the puck didn't go in the net [until late in the game], trust me," Gallant said. "But they didn't lose their focus. They kept pushing and pushing because they were playing well and the chances were there. There were a lot of grade-A chances, and Reimer made some great saves."
Fox made it 2-0 at 18:53 with an empty-net goal. He has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) during an eight-game point streak.
"We liked our game up until that third period, and we knew the bounces and chances were coming and we liked what we were seeing and getting pucks on net. It was just a matter of a bounce or two," Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller said. "Credit a lot to our goalie back there. He's been unreal since I've joined this team. He's been that guy that can win games for us single-handedly, so huge shout out to [Shesterkin]. I can't imagine that's too easy of a job."