Igor Shesterkin answers call in brilliant Game 3 performance for Rangers

WASHINGTON — The disparity in talent between the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers and the 17th-overall Caps is stark and acknowledged even by Washington coach Spencer Carbery. 

But Friday was the night and this was the game — Game 3 of the first round — where the Blueshirts needed Igor Shesterkin to make the difference. And he did, oh how he did, just the way Henrik Lundqvist did so often when the Rangers and Caps hooked up four times in five postseasons the first half of last decade. 

The Rangers assumed a commanding 3-0 lead in the series with a 3-1 victory while scoring once at five-on-five, once on the power play and once on the penalty kill. Maybe because the club was on a parade to the box that resulted in six man-advantages for the home team, but the Blueshirts were forced back on their heels much of the night. 

They defended well and hard, they competed well and hard, but they didn’t have the puck all that much for large swatches of the match even during those rare stretches in which the game was contested at full strength. Fact is, the Rangers took three shots on net over a 30:45 stretch from 4:47 of the second period to 15:32 of the third while enlarging their lead from 2-1 to the final score 

“We know what kind of goalie he is,” said Mika Zibanejad, who had a pair of assists. “But just to see the way he played tonight was huge for us, especially in the moments they had their pushback.” 

Alex Ovechkin, the Putinista who for three games has looked like nothing more than an old man wearing a “C,” had a glorious chance from the left circle on a power play with 35 seconds remaining in the first period. It was No. 8’s best chance of the series. He was denied by Shesterkin, who lunged as he came across from left to right.