Igor Shesterkin dominates in Rangers’ hard-fought shootout win over Blue Jackets

At various points of this up-and-down season, the Rangers almost certainly would have found a way to lose a game like the one they played Saturday night against red-hot Columbus at Madison Square Garden.

They couldn’t break through on offense and relied on Igor Shesterkin, especially in the early going.

But this time, as has more often been the case of late, the Rangers were up to the task in a 1-0 shootout win, as they improved to 6-1-2 in January and drew within three points of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

Though the Rangers still have four teams to pass to get into playoff position, their chances look much stronger than they did last month.

Vincent Trocheck finally found the back of the net on the Rangers attempt in the second round of the shootout and Columbus couldn’t beat Shesterkin, who stopped 27 shots in regulation and overtime and then didn’t allow anything to get by him in the shootout.

“Goaltending was huge,” head coach Peter Laviolette said of Shesterkin, who recorded his second shutout of the season. “When it’s 0-0 in overtime, you know he’s done his job. He played really well for us and we need that. We’re in a position where we’ve got to win games [and] win points. He had to be sharp with his game because we weren’t able to give him support.”