Rangers coach likes ‘way we hung together’ to stand up for Igor Shesterkin in scrum with Senators

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

After the fact, New York Rangers coach Peter Laviolette was able to laugh about Igor Shesterkin’s attempt to get at Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk in a third-period scrum Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. That’s because his star goalie didn’t get hurt in the melee, plus he was well-supported by his Rangers teammates.

Oh, and the Rangers won convincingly, 5-0, to move within two points of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

So, sure, the Rangers coach was able to smile and joke a bit after it was all said and done.

“That’s hockey man,” Laviolette quipped. “There’s always stuff going on around the crease. Goalies usually don’t get into it, but obviously he was offended.”

Yes, Shesterkin was offended, coach. After stopping a Ridley Greig shot 7:09 into the third period, Shesterkin was banged into the goal post by a hard-charging Tkachuk. That set off a full-scale wrestling match behind and to the side of the Rangers net.

After Shesterkin collected himself, he saw Tkachuk grab Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider, so the goalie charged right at the rugged forward. Unfortunately for Shesterkin, he skated directly into a left hand and eventually was tossed to the ice. But he got up looking for more before all was said and done.

“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 postgame. “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 final joking reference was Shesterkin speaking to the fact that he was working on his second consecutive shutout and didn’t wish to be tossed from the game and miss out on another shutout.

There were laughs afterward. But things were heated in the moment.

The Rangers made sure to get the last laugh, scoring a power-play goal with Tkachuk in the penalty box to put the game away.

Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from dominating win against Senators

‘Igor’s the man,’ Matt Rempe says about Rangers goalie

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

When asked about the bigger picture of standing up for each other and having an all-for-one mentality, Laviolette expressed pride in how the Rangers responded.

“I like the fact that we hung in there together in that scrum. Things just kind of unfolded pretty quick and it was good,” he explained.

Laviolette wouldn’t completely buy into that this was a huge sign of the team coming together as part of a nine-game point streak (6-0-3). He pointed out that many times good teams come together during adversity. Remember, it wasn’t long ago that the Rangers lost 15 of 19 games (4-15-0) and two popular teammates — Jacob Trouba and Kaapo Kakko — were traded away.

He also noted that things within the game, stating specifically blocking shots, brings the team together too.

Towering forward Matt Rempe was on the ice during the melee and picked up a pair of roughing minor penalties. So, what was he thinking in the heat of the moment?

“I was a little nervous because I don’t want anything to happen to him, but I love just because he’s a competitor. Just want to make sure I get in there and nothing happens, but it was awesome — Igor’s the man,” Rempe told reporters after the game.

The man, indeed. Forget his pugilist side. Shesterkin is 5-0-1 in six starts since being activated from IR, where he spent four games with an upper-body injury into the New Year. He’s allowed nine goals in those six starts and again resembles the goalie who earned the richest contract in NHL history for his position.

The man.

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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