HE'S BAAAAACK!
Yes, Igor (Himself) Shesterkin is alive, well, and himself again.
And if you don't believe The Maven, just ask the Calgary Flames, who were "schneid" 2-0 at The Garden last night.
Does that mean we should line up for tickets to June's Canyon of Heroes Parade?
Why not?
Every single thing about the Blueshirts is working, including the club's one-two scoring punch, Wil (Or Won't) Cuylle and Jimmy (An Open-Net Gimme) Vesey. He's the guy who -- only yesterday --The Man dubbed the Rangers one-and-only "Unsung Hero."
Who needs a Breadman or a Bagel man when we boast such aforementioned two winners as Wallopin' Willie and Easy Vesey; I ask you that.
Ask for Shesterkin, he won the first star -- I'll get to why it should have been someone else later -- and looked anything NOT like the ghastly, ghostly schlemeel who was 4-5-1 last month with a rousing 3.25 and .863 mark.
Then we have Captain Jake (The Rake) Trouba with the well-meaning -- but mistaken -- quote of the night. To wit:
"Everybody knew he'd be back to how he plays," quoth the C-man.
Wrong, my good captain; very wrong..
Nobody -- with the possible exception of goalie meister Benny (The Dip) Allaire -- knew.
N-O, nobody. Get that into your head.
Why do you think the fair citizens of Rangerville were watering their eyes all January over Shesty. The sadness was all about a one-time Vezina winner who looked as if he was trying to find his way out of the Van Cortlandt Park forest.
But that was then, and this is now.
"Igor was on point," said coach Peter Laviolette.
And that's the point. As The Maven pointed out pre-game, this one was to be THE confidence-builder for Iggie, and he came through.
At this moment, Lavvy is blessed with a pair of No. 1 goalies.
Regarding the mistaken first star. No, not Shesterkin; sorry.
I give all three stars to Benoit Allaire with his Ph.D. in puck-stopping.
Benny spent a week working with Iggy and -- finally and craftily -- put Humpty-Dumpty together again.