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Shesterkin’s debut, other takeaways from Avs win

By Andrew Steele-Davis

The New York Rangers celebrate after a goal
The New York Rangers celebrate after a goal /
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NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 07: Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers stretches during the game against the Colorado Avalanche at Madison Square Garden on January 07, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 07: Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers stretches during the game against the Colorado Avalanche at Madison Square Garden on January 07, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

1. A night of firsts for Shesterkin

It was a historic and emotionally charged night for the New York Rangers, who were provided with yet another glimpse of what they hope will be a bright and success-laden future.

A move that was five years in the making, Russian prospect Igor Shesterkin was finally unleashed on the NHL as he made his debut for this storied franchise.

And it was glorious.

Well, apart from the opening six-and-a-half minutes, of course. That was far from ideal.

Beaten by the first shot he faced on goal, Shesterkin only just regained his composure from being beaten by J.T. Compher, before he had to face the terrifying sight of Nathan MacKinnon hurtling towards him on the breakaway.

So, allowing two goals in the first 10 minutes of the first period in your first career game in the NHL was hardly ideal, and it looked for a moment that Shesterkin would be hogging all the headlines for the wrong reason on Wednesday.

However, Shesterkin has worked and worked for this moment down in the AHL, and he was hardly going to let the biggest day of his career pass him by like this.

And he didn’t.

That is what was perhaps most impressive about Shesterkin’s NHL debut, too. Not the sublime saucer pass to Kaapo Kakko, not the superb pad save to deny Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the third period, but rather the mentality and the maturity to reset and lock back in.

He turned away 13 shots alone in the third period to help the Rangers clinch a big win, leading to chants of “Igor… Igor… Igor” from those packed inside Madison Square Garden.

And, in the process of doing so, Shesterkin became one of five goaltenders in franchise history to have earned a win in their regular season NHL debut, joining a list of names featuring John Vanbiesbrouck, Mike Richter, Dan Cloutier and Mackenzie Skapski.

I’m sure it will become the first of many and, while there is a long way to go, we could be looking back on Jan. 7, 2020 as the day that started a Hall of Fame career.

But, what we do know for certain is that Igor Shesterkin deserved a crack at the NHL after completely tearing up the AHL this year with the Hartford Wolf Pack, putting up stunning numbers of a 1.93 Goals Against Average and a .932 Save Percentage.

Some even questioned the logic of throwing Shesterkin into the deep end against a powerhouse team, but sometimes that acts as the best learning tool for some players and so that proved on Tuesday.

Henrik Lundqvist remains The King, but there is a new prince in town.

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