Another Igor Shesterkin shutout paces Rangers to 5-0 win against Senators

NHL: Ottawa Senators at New York Rangers
Credit: Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images

Igor Shesterkin earned his second straight shutout and third this season to lead the New York Rangers to a convincing 5-0 win against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

The victory extended New York’s point streak to a season-long nine games (6-0-3) and pushed the Rangers closer to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers (23-20-4) now trail the Senators, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins by two points each for a wild-card berth.

Coming off a brilliant 1-0 shutout win against the Columbus Blue Jackets in his previous start that was decided by a shootout Saturday, Shesterkin was tested far less often Tuesday. He faced 20 shots, the fewest allowed in a game this season by the Rangers, who dominated the Senators in every facet of the game.

“I played a simple game. The guys in front of me were really good,” Shesterkin said postgame.

Shesterkin added an exclamation point to his shutout performance when he got into a scrum with Senators forward Brady Tkachuk in the third period.

Thirteen of New York’s 18 skaters picked up a point in this one, and five different Rangers scored goals. Alexis Lafreniere had a goal and an assist and Adam Fox had two assists to lead the Rangers offensively. Arthur Kaliyev, Matt Rempe, Artemi Panarin and Will Cuylle also scored for New York, which was coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.

“Our guys were really focused. I thought they played a really good game,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said.

Leevi Merilainen started in goal for the Senators and allowed two goals in 24:59 before he was replaced by Anton Forsberg, who allowed three goals on 13 shots the rest of the way.

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New York Rangers 5 – Ottawa Senators 0

NHL: Ottawa Senators at New York Rangers
Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images

A low-event first period would, at initial glance, seem to favor the low-scoring Senators, especially playing on the road. But it was the Rangers who came out of the first period with a 1-0 lead.

The Rangers outshot the Senators 10-5 in the first period and out-chanced them badly (8-2), including 5-0 in high-danger opportunities, per Natural Stat Trick. They appeared to score the first goal of the night at 17:32, when Sam Carrick wired a right-wing shot off the far post and in after one of Ottawa’s seven turnovers in the period. However, video review upheld Ottawa’s challenge that Rempe was clearly offside.

Undeterred, the Rangers scored again at 18:48, and this one counted. Lafreniere potted a rebound for his second goal in as many games and 13th of the season to officially make it 1-0. The goal came after Vincent Trocheck’s initial shot was deflected twice on the way to Merilainen.

It didn’t take long for the Rangers to double their lead in the second period. Kaliyev collected a loose puck in the right circle and quickly fired it on net. The puck hit Merilainen’s glove and went in short side, not a goal he should have allowed.

Up 2-0 on Kaliyev’s second with the Rangers after being claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings two weeks ago, the Blueshirts looked as if they scored another goal at 5:31. Again it was Kaliyev, this time with a wicked release from the right circle that beat Merilainen. But again, the Senators challenged for offside and were proven correct on video review. This time it was Chris Kreider who was a hair offside on the play.

Despite the disallowed goal, Ottawa coach Travis Green pulled his rookie goalie and replaced him with Forsberg. Merilainen surrendered two goals on 16 shots, not including the pair that were take off the scoreboard.

Shesterkin and the penalty kill starred the rest of the period for the Rangers. New York killed off two Ottawa power plays and didn’t allow a single shot on goal either time. When the Senators finally started to get their offensive game together 5v5, Shesterkin was sharp and turned them aside.

Midway through the second, Shesterkin made solid saves about a minute apart on Tkachuk and Shane Pinto. Then Shesterkin made his best save of the night, a sensational glove save on Tkachuk’s blast from between the circles after his initial attempt was blocked by Will Borgen.

Before the second period ended, Filip Chytil had two excellent scoring chances denied by Forsberg. First it was a blast from the slot, then Chytil was robbed on the rebound attempt when Forsberg got a stick on the shot and the puck deflected off the post.

The Rangers broke through against Forsberg at 3:34 of the third period and it was Rempe, the Garden fan favorite, who scored it. The 22-year-old finished a rush up ice with a neat forehand-to-backhand move for his first goal of the season, after a pretty feed from left wing by Adam Edstrom.

With the crowd still buzzing and some chanting Rempe’s name, the Rangers appeared to score again at 5:06. Cuylle off a rush hit the glass behind the net and the puck caromed back toward the net. Cuylle reached high in the air and batted the puck into the cage behind Forsberg. But the goal was rightly waved off because of the high stick.

Two minutes later all hell broke loose when Tkachuk hit Shesterkin’s head into the goalpost on a scrum by the Rangers net. A melee ensued behind the net, and then Shesterkin, after briefly remaining on all fours, charged Tkachuk. However, the Senators captain saw him coming and caught Shesterkin with a stiff left hand and then shoved the goalie to the ice. Shesterkin got back up to battle, and then Tkachuk wrestled Rempe.

“I got a couple of punches from Tkachuk. To be honest, it just was a hit on me and I don’t really enjoy that because I was between the pipe and him,” Shesterkin explained. “I didn’t want to jump there, but I saw he got in between our guy and their guy, so I just tried to hold him, but he wanted to fight. It’s tough for me because I cannot drop my gloves — if I do that I go to locker room. If I gave up one [goal] I could go fight.”

The crowd went nuts, the Rangers ended up with a power play and that soon became a 5-on-3 when Michael Amadio was called for goalie interference on the forecheck when he skated by Shesterkin behind the net and the Rangers goalie was tripped up.

The Rangers cashed in on both ends of the power play. Panarin wired a left-wing shot short side past Forsberg at 9:01 and Cuylle scored at 9:57 to make it 5-0. Panarin’s goal was his 20th of the season, the ninth time he reached that mark. Cuylle’s goal was his second in as many games and first on the power play this season.

All around, it was a terrific night for the Rangers, who won another game against a team in a wild-card spot. Next up, they will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday at MSG.

Jim Cerny is Executive Editor at Forever Blueshirts and Managing Editor at Sportsnaut, with more than 30 years of ... More about Jim Cerny
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