New York Rangers franchise goalie Igor Shesterkin had been in a huge funk as of late, but he appears to be turning it around at the right time.
The goalie who broke onto the scene in 2020 and quickly took the mantle from Henrik Lundqvist as the elite gamechanger between the pipes for the Blueshirts hit the first real lull of his career this season.
The usually-steady Shesterkin was more or less the worst goalie in the entire league in January, as his season save percentage dipped below .900 thanks to a .863 effort that month.
It was the type of slump that had the potential to sink the entire team's season if it went unrectified, as the Rangers floundered throughout the first month of the year to the tune of a 5-7-2 record.
Jonathan Quick's Added Stability
The Rangers made a consequential decision on July 1st, signing Jonathan Quick to be Shesterkin's backup.
The Los Angeles Kings legend had appeared in 10 games with the Vegas Golden Knights the prior season after departing Los Angeles in a trade to Columbus before being shipped to Vegas without having appeared in a game for the Blue Jackets.
There was a lot of uncertainty as to how the 38-year-old would perform and hold up, having put together just one good season since 2017-2018.
Fast forward to now, and Quick stepped up so strongly during Shesterkin's skid that there have been legitimate questions asked about whether Quick should own the net for the time being.
The Rangers added to this intrigue by giving Quick consecutive starts out of the all-star break, and it's hard to blame them given his .919 save percentage, which puts him in a tie for the sixth best in the league.
But any discussion about whether Quick should be treated as the starter for any meaningful period of time could be short-lived, because...
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Igor Shesterkin Appears to Be Back
The time off may have done Shesterkin some good.
With the red-hot Calgary Flames, winners of four in a row, paying a visit to Midtown Manhattan on Monday night, Shesterkin delivered a 30-save shutout to give the Rangers their fifth straight win and making him 2-0 since the break.
After nearly coughing up a huge division lead to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Rangers have some breathing room once again, with a six-point lead in the Metropolitan, though Carolina has two games in hand.
The Rangers are a talented team with a lot of good pieces, but they are built to be more reliant on the performance they get from the net than most teams.
All teams of course rely on their goalies, but the Rangers got bad goaltending for a month, and suddenly all of the other flaws on the roster were on display.
The offense didn't generate much against Calgary, but it didn't matter because their top guy did what the team was structured for him to do.
If Shesterkin is back to his elite level and New York can count on Quick to play well when Shesterkin needs a break, look for the Rangers to hang on to their division lead and be a strong contender to come out of the East.
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