It’s clear that the New York Rangers have been overly reliant on goaltender Igor Shesterkin through this second round series against the Carolina Hurricanes. Having a superstar goalie like Shesterkin is a privilege, but it’s not something that should be solely relied upon. Stan Fischler On Rangers Cup Chances The Rangers jumped to a quick 3-0 lead over the Hurricanes in this series, largely due to the outstanding play of Shesterkin. Carolina has outshot New York in each of the past five games. At many points through the series, it was Shesterkin who bailed out the team. In Game 2 the 28-year-old made 54 saves en route to a Ragers double-overtime victory while he followed that performance with 45 saves in Game 3. Coming into Madison Square Garden with a 3-1 series lead for Game 5, the Rangers had a golden opportunity to close it out and move on to the conference finals. Despite the Hurricanes pretty much dominating possession time through the first two periods, New York actually held a 1-0 lead and Shesterkin was phenomenal, once again showing his brilliance. However, when Shesterkin’s play faltered a bit in the third period and he gave up three goals, the Rangers’ offense was nowhere to be found and they ultimately couldn’t recover. Yes, Shesterkin gave up a couple goals he probably wished he could’ve had back, but he was pitching a shutout up until the final period of play, so it’s hard to blame him for the loss. The Rangers have so much firepower offensively, yet it seems it’s their goaltender that has been forced to be the star of the show time after time. Now the Rangers have some pressure on them with their series lead diminishing to just 3-2 and Carolina holding all of the momentum. If the Rangers are to persevere past the Hurricanes, they must make it a priority to hold more possession time and maybe even finally outshoot Carolina. New York’s offense has to step up while defensively the team needs to play better in their own zone. Enough making Shesterkin carry all of the weight, in Game 6 the Rangers will need a full-team effort to escape this series once and for all.
