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Grading Igor Shestekin’s performance against the Vancouver Canucks

ByJustin Bonhard|
Mar 22, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin (31) makes a save against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images
Mar 22, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin (31) makes a save against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images | Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The New York Rangers have been honoring their legendary broadcaster Sam Rosen all season long, as he will be retiring after this season’s conclusion, with 40 years of memorable calls that will last a lifetime. During Saturday’s 5-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks, they held their “Salute for Sam” featuring not one dry eye inside Madison Square Garden. 

The game was a beautiful disaster, and an improbable outcome came. The Rangers won the game despite being outshot 39-12. They nearly scored on half of the shots they took during the game, leaving their “gold bar” goaltender to stand on his head to keep them in the game. 

Let’s take an advanced look at Igor Shesterkin’s day, and grade him for his performance. 

This was nothing less than perfection. It was Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, it was Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Shesterkin showed out in this game, and proved he is worth every single penny of his $11.5 million per season. 

He stopped 36 of 39 shots, with many of which being medium (11) and high-level (8) scoring chances, according to Moneypuck.com. His xGoals Against was supposed to be 5.249, but he shut the door to only allowing three goals. 

Shesterkin has been on a skid as of late, losing three straight games. He hadn’t played like his usual self, and the confidence was certainly not all there in each of those three losses. This win was prime Shesterkin, through and through.

Best performance of the season

This was, without a shadow of a doubt, the best game of the season for Shesterkin. Outside of that, this was probably the worst game offensively and defensively that the Rangers have played all season. 

Shesterkin flashed some brilliant saves, and with all of the nostalgia from Sam Rosen’s legendary calls and incredible Rangers moments, it looked like shades of prime Henrik Lundqvist. 

The Rangers are now sitting in the third wildcard spot with 74 points. Trailing both Montreal and Ottawa, the pressure is starting to build. Shesterkin is going to have to keep playing like he did on Saturday, but this team as a whole needs to avoid a repeat performance.

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