Shesterkin playing like 'an MVP' for Rangers entering playoffs

NEW YORK -- When Igor Shesterkin went online recently to look at his season stats, the most modest number stood out to the New York Rangers goalie.

Instead of staring at the screen and marveling, like most everyone else does, at his 36 wins, his .935 save percentage and 2.07 goals-against average (both NHL bests), or his six shutouts, Shesterkin was taken aback by something else.
"I looked at how many games I've played," Shesterkin said. "I was in shock, to be honest with you."
It's possible Shesterkin was just messing around because he said in English on Monday that he feels good, but the fact is he played 53 games this season, starting 52. It is the most hockey he has played in a season, blowing past the 39 games he played in 2016-17 for SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League in his native Russia.
He ranked 14th in games played among NHL goalies this season. Everything else about Shesterkin has been first rate.
The Rangers open the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday with Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS, MSG, ATTSN-PT).
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They are in the playoffs with home-ice advantage in the first round largely because of Shesterkin, the favorite for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the goalie voted the best in the NHL, and in the conversation for the Hart Trophy, which is given to the player voted MVP of the League.
"He's been an MVP," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "He's been unbelievable, outstanding for us. I know other coaches look at their goaltender and say this guy has nine shutouts or eight shutouts or goals against and all that, but I think 'Shesky' is the guy."
Shesterkin's modesty doesn't allow him to think like that.
"Good season, I think," he said Monday. "Not bad. I can play better."
That's what the playoffs are for.
"It's a new page for me," he said. "Regular season is over and I already forgot about it. Just keep going and look forward for playoffs."
Shesterkin's rise this season has not surprised the Rangers.
They were hopeful after selecting him in the fourth round (No. 118) of the 2014 NHL Draft and watching him develop in Russia that he would carry on the level of excellence they've had at the position, following Henrik Lundqvist (2005-20), who came shortly after Mike Richter (1989-2003).
Shesterkin quickly ascended to the top of the goalie depth chart, ahead of Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev, after being called up from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Jan. 6, 2020.
He was 10-2-0 with a 2.52 GAA and .932 save percentage in 12 starts before the season was paused March 11, 2020, due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Shesterkin was 16-14-3 with a 2.62 GAA, .916 save percentage and two shutouts in 35 games (31 starts) last season.
This season, the 26-year-old has been the best goalie in the NHL.
"To me what stands out is his consistency," said Lundqvist, who retired in August and is a studio analyst for Rangers games on MSG Networks. "His structure in his game is very good and his stance is very good, so I think that makes him very relaxed. He doesn't overcommit to situations. He reads the game really well and because of his stance I don't think he gets as tired as guys that are a little lower and always in that stance where they're ready to react right away. He's more upright and then he gets ready right before the shot. That's very good and efficient."

Richter also raved about Shesterkin's calm demeanor in the net, recalling a save he saw him make on forward Nikolaj Ehlers during a 3-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets on April 19, one of 31 saves he made that night.
"I was in the middle of a conversation with the guy next to me, we were both watching the game and the crowd was watching, good intensity in the arena," Richter said. "Shesterkin made an incredibly important save on the breakaway, like a heck of a save. I kept my conversation going and it seemed like the fans did too. And I just said, 'That's how good this guy is. He just made a pivotal moment routine.' He kept up with the guy, had patience, followed him along, stuck out his leg, made the save and on we went. It was almost uneventful. That should have been considered an amazing save because it was, yet people were like, 'Yeah, could you pass the popcorn?' "
Shesterkin's performance earlier in the season helped train fans to react the way they did in that instance. He was so sublime when the Rangers weren't.
"The first 30 games he makes huge saves, keeps us in it every game and we won a lot of games early on that we shouldn't," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "He won those games. He was outstanding and gave us a chance to be a real good team."
That actually went on longer than Gallant said. Shesterkin played 41 games (40 starts) before the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline on March 21. The Rangers upgraded their roster that day and started to play better in front of the goalie afterward.
He was 30-8-3 with a 2.05 GAA and .938 save percentage despite facing 31.9 shots on goal per game through March 21. He played in 12 games (all starts) after the deadline with a 6-5-1 record but a 2.15 GAA and .920 save percentage, facing 25.9 shots on goal per game.
Lundqvist said the lighter workload in the past six weeks will benefit Shesterkin in the playoffs.
"It hasn't been as physical," Lundqvist said. "I think that plays a huge part too, how you feel going down the stretch, how the games are played. I remember the first few months it was intense, it was a lot, a lot of action.
"I think that's why not a lot of people have talked about the Rangers, because in the first couple months they saw them as a team that relied on Igor, but that hasn't really been the case the second half. Igor has been really good, but it hasn't been the same look the second half."
The playoffs, though, will bring a completely different look and a level of pressure and expectations Shesterkin has never faced, at least not in the NHL.
Shesterkin's NHL postseason experience is limited to one game played in an empty arena in Toronto during the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers: Game 3 against the Carolina Hurricanes on Aug. 4, 2020, when he made 27 saves in a 4-1 loss that ended the best-of-5 series.
Shesterkin played in 16 playoff games for St. Petersburg, including 10 in 2018-19.
"He's ready for it," Lundqvist said. "It's different, but he had a few years in the KHL in Russia and played playoffs and played international games. It's not that big of a difference. Also, the way he plays the game, his mindset, it won't be an issue. Sometimes it's not a bad thing that you just go in fresh and you don't think it. It's not always easier just because you have experience, but he's experienced enough to know that maybe it's going to be a little bit more intense, but it won't change his approach. He played enough games at different levels. He's not 18. He's 26. He's experienced, so I don't see it as a factor at all, frankly."