TEMPE, Ariz. — Goalie Igor Shesterkin started in back-to-back games for the first time since his rookie season, beginning with the Stars on Saturday afternoon and ending with the Coyotes on Sunday night.
Starting a goaltender in back-to-back contests isn’t something Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant and director of goaltending Benoit Allaire usually do, but since it was an afternoon game and then a night game, the coaching staff thought Shesterkin would be able to handle the workload.
The Rangers flew out of Dallas Saturday night and were able to get to sleep at a reasonable hour. Plus, the time change between Dallas and Arizona allowed the Rangers to gain two hours back.
“He had more time,” Gallant said before Shesterkin posted 18 saves in the Rangers’ 3-2 win over the Coyotes. “We had a 1 o’clock game [against Dallas], 5 o’clock game [against Arizona], so it wasn’t real busy of a game.”
Igor Shesterkin makes a save during the Rangers’ win over the Coyotes. USA TODAY Sports The last time Shesterkin appeared in back-to-back games was February 21 and 22 in 2020. He made 29 saves against the Hurricanes in Carolina and then made 46 stops against the Sharks the following night at Madison Square Garden. Both were wins.
After that Feb. 22 contest, however, Shesterkin didn’t play again until March 7 due to the injuries he sustained in a car accident. . The season was then suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Great,” Gallant said of what he saw from Shesterkin on the second consecutive night. “Might do it again someday.”
Ryan Reaves drew back into the Rangers lineup in wake of Vitali Kravtsov’s most recent upper-body injury. Gallant didn’t have much of an update on Kravtsov, who exited Saturday’s matinee against the Stars after crashing hard into the boards.
“He’s going to get reevaluated [Monday],” the coach said. “We’ll see. He was down on the ice for a while. He’s fine. He traveled with us, so we’ll see where it goes.”
Sunday marked the sixth game the Russian winger has missed due to injury this season.
The Rangers played in their third set of back-to-back games, and their second pair on the road, this season. Through those six games, the Blueshirts are 3-3.
“It’s never easy,” Gallant said. “This is our third one already in 10 games. They found a way. I thought we played a great first period, we really played a lot in their zone. And then after that, they took it to us a little bit. But overall, I thought we played a good, solid game from everybody.”
