New York Rangers: Shesterkin does it again in a 4-2 Wolf Pack win

Igor Shesterkin‘s brief stint with the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack from the New York Rangers concluded Saturday night with a 4-2 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at the Xcel Center in Hartford.

The game got off to an auspicious start as Shesterkin allowed two goals in the first 6:10 on the game. He must have felt he was playing for the New York Rangers and not the Wolf Pack.  That was especially on the second goal when Libor Hajek coughed up the puck behind the goal and he was left with no chance to stop the Phantoms’ Greg Carey.

Lehigh Valley finished with 30 shots on goal as Shesterkin shut the door and didn’t let them get another marker despite a heavy push in the third period.    When the Phantoms pulled their goalie with over a minute left in the game Shesterkin cleared the puck to center ice and it was clear he had scoring a goal in mind.  Don’t be surprised if he is the first Blueshirt goalie to pull of that feat.

After falling behind 2-0, the Pack got on the scoreboard when Darren Raddysh scored only a minute and a half after the second Phantoms goal.  Ryan Gropp then followed up with two goals before Phil DiGiuseppe added an empty net tally.    Gropp’s first goal chased Lehigh Valley goalie J.F. Berube, formerly of the Islanders.

It was a positive night for Ryan Gropp who earlier in the season had refused to report to Maine when was demoted to the ECHL.  He ultimately changed his mind and was recently brought back to Hartford and in this game he scored his second and third goals.  He has been a disappointment after being selected 41st overall in the second round of the 2015 Entry Draft.

As for Shesterkin, he finished his two games in Hartford allowing three goals in two games and stopping 59 of 62 shots. He is now off for the mandatory bye week and will see his next ice time on Friday when the Rangers resume play against Detroit.   The question is when will he start his next game?

Shesterkin has to hope that this was the last game of his AHL career.  If so, he finished with a 17-4-3 record, a goals against average of 1.90 and a save percentage of .934.   He is the AHL league leader in those two categories.