Opinion: Why Ranger Fans Should Not Worry About Shesterkin

It is amazing that despite being one of the best teams in the NHL this season, New York Rangers fans will find something to be negative about.

As someone who grew up a Blueshirts fan, I am guilty of doing this. I could always find the bad, even when good things were happening.

Now that I am older and consider myself a hockey fan first, I have learned to be more objective and realistic. Being in this kind of position has helped me both as a fan and a writer.

I am here to calm Ranger fans down when it comes to the play of their All-Star goaltender Igor Shesterkin. Shesterkin, 27, is 10-6 with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.

Clearly, both his elevated goals against average and somewhat low save percentage are a bit glaring. Speaking of glaring, his play between the pipes in his last two games has not been great:

• Tuesday, December 5th against the Ottawa Senators: Stopped 30 of 35 shots in a loss.
• Saturday, December 9th against the Washington Capitals: Stopped 25 of 29 shots in a loss.

There is no doubt that it has been a strange season for Shesterkin up to this point. There have been times this season when he has been beaten cleanly on shots, allowed a soft goal, gave up the puck as he was trying to handle it, and showed his frustration with himself.

With all of that said, there is no reason why Rangers fans should worry about Shesterkin. For starters, he is still an all-world goaltender.

He is 109-48-0-15 with a 2.48 goals-against average, a .922 save percentage, and 11 shutouts. Those are elite numbers for someone who is still just 27 years of age and has a lot of hockey left to play in his career.

When it comes to his numbers this season, not all of them are on him. There have been games this season in which he has started where his team has allowed a lot of odd-man rushes, given up a lot of high-quality scoring chances, and hung him out to dry.

Secondly, the same thing happened to Shesterkin last season. For much of the first half of the year, Shesterkin was a very ordinary goaltender.

Shesterkin then turned it up in the second half of the season and finished with a solid stat line as he was 37-13-0-8 with a 2.48 goals-against average, a .916 save percentage, and three shutouts. He also ended up having an unbelievable playoff in a seven-game loss to the New Jersey Devils in the first round, as he was 3-4 with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage.

Lastly, his team has built up a great cushion this season, so Shesterkin has some time to get his game together. That was not the case last year as the Rangers got off to a mediocre start, which ended up putting a lot of pressure on Shesterkin to quickly get his game in order.

That is not the case this season. Going into their game against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night, December 10th, at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are currently first in the Metropolitan Division and third in the NHL with an 18-6-1 record for 37 points.

In conclusion, Ranger fans need to relax. Shesterkin will find his game and go back to being the goaltender who has already done so much for their favorite team.