In the beginning of the season, New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin looked like the best goaltender in the world.
Shesterkin, 28, was stealing games, coming up with big save after big save, and bailing out his team whenever there was a defensive miscue. He looked like a goaltender who was well on his way to earning the largest contract given to a masked man in NHL history.
Fast forward to today (Tuesday, December 3) and things are very different for the Russian netminder. As of this writing, Shesterkin is 8-9-0-1 with a 3.05 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage, and one shutout.
Those statistics are a far cry from the way he started the year. Here is what Shesterkin did in his first nine games of the season when he looked like a brick wall between the pipes:
- October 9 vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins: 31-save shutout victory.
- October 12 vs. the Utah Hockey Club: Stopped 20 of 26 shots in an overtime loss.
- October 14 vs. the Detroit Red Wings: Stopped 31 of 32 shots and got the win.
- October 19 vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs: Stopped 34 of 35 shots and got the win.
- October 22 vs. the Montreal Canadiens: Stopped 21 of 23 shots and got the win.
- October 24 vs. the Florida Panthers: Stopped 26 of 29 shots in a loss.
- October 29 vs. the Washington Capitals: Stopped 41 of 45 shots in a loss.
- November 1 vs. the Ottawa Senators: Stopped 40 of 41 shots and got the win.
As you can tell from the above, Shesterkin was on top of his game. He was winning hockey games, was keeping his team in games that they had not business being in, and was making a lot of big saves.
Unfortunately, things are very different now for both Shesterkin and the Rangers. After getting off to a fast start, the Rangers have come crumbling down as they are currently (As of Tuesday, December 3) fourth in the Metropolitan Division, sixth in the Eastern Conference, and 14th in the league with a 13-10-1 record for 27 points.
Shesterkin’s struggles have been very apparent in his last nine starts. In those nine games, Shesterkin is 2-7-0 with a 3.93 goals-against average and a .882 save percentage.
One reason why Shesterkin is not playing well is because his team is giving up a lot of shots and it is impacting Shesterkin in a negative way. Game after game, he is facing a lot of high-quality scoring chances, but unlike he did in the beginning of the season, he is no longer stopping them.
Another reason why he is struggling is because he is allowing goals early in the game. For the last few weeks, we have seen the Rangers get off to poor starts early in games as Shesterkin has been giving up goals right from the get go.
When a goaltender gives up a goal a few minutes into a game, it can negatively impact their confidence for the rest of the game. This might be what is happening with Shesterkin this season as there have been several occasions later on in said games where he is looking behind him after making a save.
One also cannot help but wonder if his contract status is negatively impacting the way he is playing. Shesterkin wants to be the highest paid goaltender in the league and wants to show both his team and the rest of the league that he deserves to have money thrown at him.
With that mindset, Shesterkin is probably putting extra pressure on himself. While that is not necessarily a bad thing, it might be hurting him right now because all he should focus on is stopping the puck and winning hockey games for his team to help them get back on the right track.
The Rangers desperately need Shesterkin to get back to playing like one of the best goaltenders in the world. If that does not happen, the team is going to sink and changes are going to have be made in a hurry.
