Shesterkin hurt in tremendous 1-0 defensive effort win over Sharks

The New York Rangers world was upended just 5:08 into the third period when Igor Shesterkin went down with a leg injury and had to leave the game.

Alexandar Georgiev came in and was outstanding in protecting a1-0 lead and the Rangers escaped with a win over a very tough San Jose team.

With the win, the Rangers improved their record to 15-4-3, improved their home winning streak to seven games and their overall winning streak to five games.  They are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, having passed the Carolina Hurricanes and only three teams have more points and the Rangers have games in hand on all of them.

But the question of the night is about the Shesterkin injury.  The best news came from Gerard Gallant who said as soon as he walked into the press conference, “They’re telling me it’s not as bad as it looks.”  He had no other information, except to say that the trainer said not to worry about it and it was called a “minor lower body” injury.

The Rangers are starting one of the busiest segments of their schedule and if the are without their number one netminder, it could bring this Rangers team crashing back to Earth.  The best news to come out of this game was that Alexandar Georgiev came in cold and showed no signs of the funk he has been in while stopping nine shots.   Georgiev has proved in the past that he is capable of playing well over long stretches and he would certainly need to do that this season.

This was a tightly played defensive struggle with the only goal coming from Ryan Strome six minutes into the first period on the power play.  The Rangers had the man advantage because Noah Gregor ran into Shesterkin in the crease.  The Sharks complained about the call, but to no avail.

45 seconds into the power play, Artemi Panarin fed Mik Zibanejad who got the puck to Adam Fox who sent it to a wide open Strome who blasted a slap shot past Adin Hill.

It was a goaltenders dual the rest of the way with Adin Hill making a series of fabulous saves to keep the score 1-0.  He stoned a number of Rangers from point blank range including Panarin, Filip Chytil, Chris Kreider and Julien Gauthier.  Igor Shesterkin was just as good over the first tw periods, with stops on Nick Bonino, Tim Meiers and Kevin Labanc.

Georgiev was very good on a Sharks power play shortly after he came in.   Gallant said “Coming in on that power play was tough and he made three great saves. He looked solid, I was very happy. It’s a good opportunity for him to step up.”

Gallant was also very happy with the way the Rangers ended the game. “It was an unbelievable last two shifts, keeping them hemmed in their own zone….that’s your best defense, keeping them down there and tonight it worked real well.”

Here is a five minutes recap of the game (it has a lot of work by the goalies).

With a fantastic record, the Rangers proved in this game yet again that they can find ways to win.