New York Rangers: Shesterkin’s playoff record
The New York Rangers have a good shot at playing in the postseason when hockey resumes. With Igor Shesterkin firmly in position as the number one goalie, it’s worth a look at his prior playoff experience.
The odds are that Igor Shesterkin will be in net when the New York Rangers start their first postseason run in three years. Based on his outstanding 12 game debut in the regular season, the job is his to lose. It’s important to note that the 24-year old had a long playoff run last spring in the KHL and in looking at how he did, we can correct some misconceptions about his performance.
For some reason, there is a belief that Shesterkin was not the number one goalie for SKA, especially in the KHL playoffs. Here are the facts.
Last season, Shesterkin split goaltending duties for SKA St. Petersburg with former Ranger back up goalie Magnus Hellberg. Shesterkin had a 24-4-0 record in 28 starts with a .953 save percentage and a 1.11 goals against average (GAA). Hellberg had a pretty good season as well with a 24-7-3 record in 34 games, with a .940 save percentage and a 1.32 GAA. There’s no disputing that they were an excellent tandem and sharing time in goal made sense.
However, when the playoffs started, it was Shesterkin who was in goal for second place SKA when the Conference Quarterfinals started against seventh place Spartak Moscow. It was a shock when Spartak jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the series with two road victories against the heavily favored SKA team.
Shesterkin was in goal for both of those games, allowing five goals in a 2-0 loss followed by a 3-2 defeat. In the first game, he allowed two goals on 16 shots with both goals on the power play.
In the second game, he allowed three third period goals on 18 shots with one of the goals on the power play. That came after an ill-advised boarding penalty by Nikolai Prokhorkin that tied the score at 2-2. Spartak won the game, when Martins Kasums scored with only five seconds left in regulation.
So, despite losing the first two games of the series, Shesterkin allowed only two even strength goals. It’s why he got the nod in net for the must-win third game of the series. Although SKA won the game, Shesterkin was replaced by Magnus Hellberg who then went on to start the next nine playoff games. The common misconception is that Shesterkin was replaced because of poor play and lost his starting job to Hellberg. That’s not true.
What really happened
Shesterkin started Game Three on the road in Moscow and played 35:41, allowing one goal on 16 shots. SKA won the game 5-2, getting back into the series. All reports are that Shesterkin was playing well and was cruising with a 4-1 lead. That’s when he was called for a tripping penalty.
Shesterkin tripped Spartak winger Kaspars Daugavins who crashed headlong into the boards, fracturing his ribs. Not only called for tripping, Shesterkin was give a game misconduct and was subsequently suspended for the next game.
He was replaced by Hellberg in that game, who allowed one goal the rest of the way.
Sitting out a suspension for Game Four, he was replaced on the roster by rookie Alexei Melnichuk with Hellberg starting. That’s when Shesterkin became the KHL version of Wally Pipp, who lost his starting job with the Yankees to Lou Gehrig.
Hellberg won Game Four, a 3-2 overtime win and with two strong performances under his belt, he got the nod instead of Shesterkin for the next game, a 2-1 win that clinched the series for SKA, 4-2.
You cannot blame SKA Coach Ilya Vorobyov for riding the hot hand as he kept going with Hellberg in the Conference Semi-Finals against third place Lokomotiv. SKA won the series in five games with Hellberg allowing only five goals in the first four games. In the clinching game, Lokomotiv scored four goals in a 5-4 overtime loss.
Back in net
The Conference Finals were the equivalent of the Finals as it featured the two best teams in the KHL. SKA St. Petersburg took on their archrivals, first place CSKA Moscow. Only three points separated the two teams in the regular season standings with SKA scoring more goals and CSKA allowing fewer tallies.
Magnus Hellberg started the first game and took the loss, a 2-1 loss in Moscow. SKA had jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but Hellberg gave up two goals on 12 shots. That loss was the impetus for SKA to get Shesterkin back in net. Shesterkin ended up starting every game the rest of the series, won by CSKA in seven games.
The second game of the series was scheduled for March 30 and Shesterkin had last played on March 2 in the Quarterfinals. Despite the rust, Shesterkin got the start and SKA lost the second game 3-1 Although he took the loss, the young Russian was back in net for SKA’s victory in Game Three, a 2-1 overtime thriller. SKA knotted the series 2-2 with a 3-1 win in Game Four and dropped Game Five 3-0 in Moscow. They forced a seventh game with a 3-2 win in Game Six. Nikita Gusev scored the go ahead goal with just under six minutes into the third period and Shesterkin shut down CSKA the rest of the way.
The home team won every game in this series and with Game Seven in Moscow, CSKA won 3-1. Shesterkin allowed two goals including a first period power play tally. He made 21 saves, but SKA could never tie the score and CSKA sealed the win with an empty net goal.
In the series, in six games, Shesterkin allowed 11 goals, eight at even strength, on 128 shots for a .914 save percentage and a 1.79 goals against average.
Conclusions
It’s easy to assume that Shesterkin was replaced for inferior play in the first round of the KHL playoffs, but that was not the case. He was sidelined by a suspension and it was the excellent play of Magnus Hellberg that resulted in Shesterkin riding the bench.
It’s even easier to assume that Shesterkin was outplayed when you look at the record of the two goalies. In 10 games Hellberg had a 7-2 record with a .919 save percentage and a 1.68 GAA. Compare that to Shesterkin’s nine games with a 4-5 record, a .904 save percentage and a 2.95 GAA.
The important thing to note is that when the competition was the best and SKA was in a 1-0 hole to CSKA, Coach Vorobyov went with Shesterkin despite him going 27 days between starts. And despite taking the loss in his first game back, Vorobyov stayed with him for the rest of the series.
Let’s put an end to the narrative that Shesterkin failed in the KHL playoffs last season. The good news is that when the NHL is ready to resume and if the Rangers are in that three game play-in series, they will have a young, but seasoned playoff goalie in net.
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