Igor Shesterkin is raising his game when the Rangers need it most
NY Post
RALEIGH, N.C. — Igor Shesterkin and the Rangers have experienced it from all sides the past three springs. They have overcome a 3-1 series deficit by winning an overtime Game 7 at home. They have overcome a 3-2 deficit to win a Game 7 on the road. They have lost a 2-0 series lead in dropping four straight. They have lost another 2-0 lead before losing in seven. And they have swept.
“There’s an edge to him if we’re losing, but he’s a pretty consistent level-headed guy all the time,” Jacob Trouba told The Post following Wednesday’s spirited practice at the club’s training facility. “But this morning, you could tell he was gearing up.
“He knows what’s on the line.”
It’s a trip to the conference final that will be on the line when the Blueshirts attempt to close out the Hurricanes for the third time here in Thursday’s Game 6, after having failed to do so twice — most notably going down in Monday’s Game 5 at the Garden in the club’s most disappointing performance of the year.
A couple of days later, though, it was as if the Rangers had gone through the “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” treatment. Game 5 was gone as if it had never quite happened. The focus was on the opportunity in front of them, not the lost ones behind them.
And it will be Shesterkin in net just as he has been in net for all 36 Blueshirts postseason games these past three years. We talk all the time about the need for the marquee guys to elevate their respective games in the playoffs. Shesterkin has done that.