Igor Shesterkin's skill was wasted against Calgary

Once again, New York Rangers' goaltender Igor Shesterkin was tasked with keeping the Blueshirts alive throughout an entire game.

While Shesterkin kept the game close and seemed like he was the lone Ranger who showed any bit of interest in continuing the season past the regular season, New York still lost 2-1 on Tuesday night. The goaltender made a series of big saves, including several on Calgary Flames team-leader Jonathan Huberdeau, after errors made by Shesterkin's teammates in front of his net.

The Shesterkin Silver Lining

The highest paid netminder in the league finished with 33 saves on the night, but a pair of first-period goals were enough to sink the Rangers (72 points, 33-30-6) to a second straight defeat. Turns out — Shesterkin's 33 saves simply cannot result in a win when the Rangers only put up 13 shots.

If National Hockey League fans are being honest — if it wasn’t for Shesterkin, this game would have be so much worse for the Rangers. Speaking of which, he might have been the only exciting part of the game as he nonchalantly challenged Calgary's Rasmus Andersson to a fight during a TV-timeout and continued to chirp with the entire Flames' bench as the teams skated off for the second intermission. 

As the periods progressed Shesterkin continued to do everything and then some to keep them alive, coming up with impeccable saves and firing cross ice passes in attempts to help his team do something. But, ultimately it didn't matter.

Nazem Kadri scored off a wrist shot at the 10:22 mark of the first period which was then followed by another wrist shot goal at 18:03. This time it was from Calgary's Matt Coronato, with Kadri tallying the assist. By the end of the third period the Rangers pulled Shesterkin for the extra attacker. The Flames ended up with a 2-on-0 on the empty net but ended up entering the zone offsides which negated the goal that Blake Coleman scored — keeping the score at 2-1.

Current Standings

As a result of Tuesday's loss for the Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 win over the Senators on the same night, Montreal has currently overtaken the Rangers for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. New York has 72 points compared to the Canadiens' 73; both teams have the same number of wins, although Montreal has 27 losses compared to the Blueshirts' 30.

The New York Rangers' next chances to turn things around are on Wednesday against the Maple Leafs and Saturday against Vancouver. When the Blueshirts play in these games, it's imperative they make sure Shesterkin isn't the only player who actually shows up ready to play.