Igor Shesterkin’s bounce-back stretch couldn’t be arriving at a better time

Not a lot of things are going right for the New York Rangers right now, but as an important stretch of games against elite team approaches, they can take solace in the fact that Igor Shesterkin is looking like himself again.

Igor Shesterkin is rounding into form when Rangers need him most

Over the last four games Shesterkin has faced 114 shots and he's made 105 saves to post a .921 save percentage and a 2.27 goals against average while posting a record of 3-1-0 in that stretch. The lone loss came on Saturday against Tampa Bay, and Shesterkin was far and away the Rangers' best player on the ice. His performance comes at a time in which Jonathan Quick is on injured reserve and the team's backup is Dylan Garand who has yet to appear in an NHL game.

The pressure is on for Shesterkin and the Rangers, and things will only get tougher this week. Tuesday is when the Rangers are back in action, and they will take on the Dallas Stars who are 16-5-4 on the season and feature an attack that includes Jason Robertson (15-17-32), Mikko Rantanen (10-20-30), and Wyatt Johnston (13-13-26) up front.

Shesterkin looking to avoid last season's December swoon

November and December were difficult months for Shesterkin in 2024-25, and December was the worse of the two. Last December he appeared in 10 games and went 3-7-0 with a .892 save percentage and a 3.43 goals against average. Last November saw him go 4-6-0 with a .906 save percentage and a 3.30 goals against average.

Shesterkin's November saw him go 7-5-0 with a .907 save percentage and a 2.59 goals against average, and the two games that stand out are the loss to the New York Islanders in which he surrendered four goals, and the loss to the Colorado Avalanche in which he also surrendered four goals. In both cases the Rangers were outplayed, and the most recent game against Colorado was a bit frustrating since it was a game the team was competing and then just lost it.

This week of action is a great chance for Shesterkin to steal a few wins, and help the Rangers earn some much needed wins on home ice. He can't do it alone, unless the goal is to play to a tie in regulation and try and win in the shootout, but it can't be said that he's not giving his team a chance to win.