There are probably a dozen reasons that the Rangers relapsed on Tuesday in their empty-net abetted 7-3 Garden defeat to the Maple Leafs two nights after the team had appeared to leave bad habits behind in a buttoned-down victory over the Kings.
But one of them was the inability of Igor Shesterkin to elevate his team above the disengaged morass the Blueshirts created for themselves right out of the hop. If the goaltender was not the primary culprit — and he was not — then neither was he the solution.
Indeed, the Rangers have lost three straight with Shesterkin in net in which the netminder has surrendered 15 goals with an .839 save percentage and 5.08 goals against average through 6-2 and 4-0 drubbings in Ottawa and Washington, respectively, before this one.
It is on nights like these that appreciation should grow — if that is even possible — for the way Henrik Lundqvist did this routinely, night after night, for a dozen years. It is on nights like these that you recognize that franchise goaltenders do not grow on trees.
“I don’t know what to say to you,” Shesterkin said following a pause and a deep sigh when asked how he is evaluating his game. “Sorry.”
Listen, the Rangers were just lousy in this one playing against a team missing three varsity defensemen and with third-string goaltender Martin Jones making his first NHL start of the season. They were late to the ball. They let the Leafs off the hook.
The Blueshirts were disengaged, disconnected and lazy, reaching with sticks and relying on hope rather than moving their feet and taking the body. They lapsed into the bad habits that have been on display during this 4-4 stretch in which the team has been outscored by an astounding 33-23 while surrendering five goals or more in half those contests.
“[Those habits] definitely can creep in and when we start playing like that, that’s what’s going to happen, giving up a lot of opportunities,” Ryan Lindgren said. “When you play a high-octane team like that and you’re soft on them, stick-checking and not physical, you’re going yo give up those Grade-A’s, and they’ve got the guys who are going to put it in the back of the net.
“We have to play a lot tougher and a lot more physical, for sure. And it’s definitely disappointing coming off Sunday against LA where we were the team we want to be.”
The Leafs went the length of the ice to score on a delayed penalty. They scored on a long one that was apparently deflected by Braden Schneider. They scored on a rebound. They scored from in front off a nifty backdoor feed. They scored those four goals in the first, pretty much before the home team reported for duty.
When the Rangers clawed back by drawing within one after 40 minutes, they were stung right away by a power-play goal. It never got better from there.
“I think it’s pretty rare to go through the first [chunk of the season] without really facing any adversity and with things kind of going our way,” said Blake Wheeler, who scored twice to mark his best performance of the year. “I think it’s whatever we make it out to be.
“The teams that are going to contend at the end, this is kind oof where you learn about yourself and what it takes to ultimately be successful.”
The Blueshirts have received exemplary work in net from Jonathan Quick, 8-0-1 in his nine starts. But the 37-year-old is the backup. Full stop. They are going to need more from Shesterkin going forward. They need him to prop them up the way he did throughout his Vezina 2021-22 season. They need him to sprinkle in a stolen victory here and there.
When Shesterkin arrived the first week of January in 2020 after a half-season in the AHL, it appeared as if the baton had been passed — reluctantly, no doubt, at the time — from the Swede to the Russian. That, though, represented wishful thinking. There have been steps and missteps.
Shesterkin’s second season — the 56-game COVID year — was a disappointment. He was dominant the following season and disappointing last year until he turned it around late and in the playoff series against New Jersey.
This year, well, he started the season at an elevated level but has not been the same since he went 16 days between games after being sidelined with “general soreness” following the Nov. 2 match against Carolina.
His first eight games, Shesterkin was 6-2 with a .913 save percentage and 2.36 GAA. Since returning, he has gone 4-5 with an .894 save percentage and 3.59 GAA. Is that cause and effect, or simply a coincidence? His overall numbers are pedestrian across the board and inferior to Quick’s.
Shesterkin cares. There is no doubt about that. He fumes after allowing goals. He beats himself up after games. That can get in the way.
Right now, though, the Rangers need Shesterkin to rise above the multitude of breakdowns in front of him. They need him to be Lundqvist’s linear descendant from another country. They need Shesterkin to be their franchise goalie.
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