Shesterkin, Rangers top Wild 4-2 for 4th straight win: takeaways

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The New York Rangers own their first four-game winning streak since Oct. 14-18, 2024, because Igor Shesterkin stole a 4-2 win against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Shesterkin made a season-high 46 saves and was especially brilliant in the final two periods, when the Wild outshot the Blueshirts 42-9 – including 21-1 in the third period.

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“Shesty had a great performance for us,” said defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who had a goal and two assists.

Noah Laba, Jaroslav Chmelar and Vincent Trocheck also scored for the Rangers, who had nine of the game’s first 12 shots before the Wild spent the rest of the night bombarding Shesterkin.

Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

The Rangers improved to 6-1-2 since play resumed after the Olympic break. Not surprisingly, that surge coincides with the return of Shesterkin and No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox from the lower-body injuries each sustained on Jan. 5.

The Blueshirts (28-30-8) look like a team that’s happy to be playing hockey; they’re playing with the kind of looseness that was rarely in evidence before the break.

Shesterkin stopped six shots apiece by 38-goal scorer Kirill Kaprizov and former Blueshirt fan favorite Mats Zuccarello. The Wild had 86 shot attempts to 39 for the Rangers, and New York killed six of seven power plays against the NHL’s third-best man-advantage unit.

Shesterkin’s heroics carry Rangers to 4-2 win against Wild

Just as they did in a 6-3 victory in Winnipeg on Thursday, the Rangers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard with a power-play goal.

Wild defenseman Brock Faber was called for tripping 54 seconds after the opening face-off, and the Rangers’ second power-play unit converted when Noah Laba rifled a shot from the slot past Filip Gustavsson’s glove at 2:41. Gabe Perreault, dropped back to PP2 after the return of J.T. Miller from injury, made the play with a perfect pass from left wing that found an unchecked Laba coming late.

New York survived the Wild’s first power play after Will Borgen went off for tripping at 9:45, with Igor Shesterkin making a terrific stop on 37-goal Matt Boldy on an open backhander in front.

The Rangers made it 2-0 at the 15-minute mark. Fox’s wrist shot from the right point was tipped by Tye Kartye and bounced off Minnesota defenseman Quinn Hughes in front of the net. Gavrikov then backhanded the loose puck towards the crease — and Gustavsson kicked it in off his left pad.

Minnesota had just three shots on goal until the final 30 seconds of the opening period but matched that total before the final horn and drew a power play at the buzzer when Kartye was called for cross-checking. Minnesota got on the board 35 seconds into the middle period when Boldy split the defense and zipped a high shot past Shesterkin to make it 2-1.

Shesterkin was pressured for the next few minutes before the Rangers turned a one-goal lead into a three-goal advantage by scoring twice in 22 seconds.

Taylor Raddysh took Urho Vaakanainen’s pass at the Wild blue line, sent Chmelar in alone and the rookie forward beat Gustavsson at 8:41 to make it 3-1. Trocheck was credited with his 14th of the season at 9:03 when Gavrikov’s shot from the left point got a piece of his stick during a battle in front and went past Gustavsson.

The rest of the period belonged to Shesterkin, who stood on his head to preserve the 4-1 lead. The Wild had a 21-8 margin in shots – but the Rangers scored two of the three goals.

The Wild’s fusillade continued unabated in the third period. Minnesota had the first 14 shots, but only rookie Danil Yanov’s deflection at 7:19 got past him to cut the lead to 4-2. Minnesota had three power plays in a stretch of less than eight minutes, but Shesterkin – the game’s First Star – was unbeatable.

The atmosphere in the locker room after the win was a huge contrast to the gloom and doom of the first two-thirds of the season.

“We want to keep going and string as many together as we can here,” said captain J.T. Miller, who returned from a five-game injury absence. “There’s a lot to like right now.”

Key takeaways after Rangers hold off Wild 4-2 for 4th straight win

New mask, same old Igor

Maybe Shesterkin should keep his new mask unpainted – he’s been terrific in the wins at Winnipeg and Minnesota while playing with a bright white mask.

How much does “Shesty” mean to the Rangers? His teammates rushed to his defense when Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson bumped him in the goal crease late in the game. The Blueshirts quickly jumped into the fray, creating a full-fledged scrum that saw all 10 skaters involved.

“Not anyone in the League is allowed to touch him,” Gavrikov said.

No team wants to see its goaltender hit, but the Rangers were particularly inflamed because Shesterkin is the most important player on the team. They can’t win without him – few NHL goaltenders are capable of the kind of performance he had Saturday against one of the League’s best teams.

Gavrikov’s career night

The Rangers knew they were getting a terrific shutdown defenseman when they signed Gavrikov, an unrestricted free agent, to a seven-year, $49 million contract last July 1. He’s teamed with Fox to form one of the NHL’s best blue-line pairings; the only thing that’s hampered him is two lengthy injury absences.

But GM Chris Drury and coach Mike Sullivan couldn’t have imagined that Gavrikov would turn into an offensive force.

The 30-year-old, playing in his 500th NHL game, had the first three-point night of his career. The goal was his 13th — twice as many as he scored in any of his previous seven seasons. In fact, he’s one short of his total for the previous three seasons combined.

His 30 points in 66 games equaled his production in 82 games with the Los Angeles Kings, and his average ice time of 23:49 is also a career high.

Tye-ing one on

Kartye had eight points in 40 games with the Seattle Kraken before they waived the 24-year-old forward and the Rangers grabbed him. His assist on Gavrikov’s goal gave him seven points (two goals, five assists) in eight games since coming to New York after the Olympic break.

The assist extended Kartye’s point streak to a career-high five games. He’s given the Rangers the kind of physical play they want from a bottom-six forward while chipping in more offense than expected.

“A gritty, heart-and-soul guy who chips in on offense is what I want to be,” he told MSG after the second period. He’s doing just that – without any acquisition costs for the Rangers.

The Breadman Cometh

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The Rangers will see a familiar face when they return home to host the Kings on Monday night.

The game marks the return of Artemi Panarin, their leading scorer in each of the past six seasons. He was on pace to make it 7-for-7 before the Rangers traded him to the Kings on Feb. 4.

The Breadman is coming off a one-goal, two-assist performance in the Kings’ 6-4 loss at New Jersey on Saturday and has 12 points in 10 games with LA. That’s a 1.20 point-per-game pace; virtually the same as his 1.26 average with the Rangers.

Panarin said Friday that he’s pretty happy about where he is now, although he’d rather not have returned to New York for a visit until next season. Expect him to get a video tribute and plenty of applause — at least until he helps the Kings end the winning streak.

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