The Rangers continue to surprise in the current playoffs of the National Hockey League.
Wards of Gerard Gallan at the previous stages were saved twice, losing two matches in the series, and in the first semi-final meeting, no stone was left unturned by the current champion Tampa.
A huge role in this was played by the stability and skill of the Russian goalkeeper of the New Yorkers Igor Shesterkin.
However, his counterpart Andrey Vasilevsky has also repeatedly saved his team during the current Stanley Cup season.
Many experts call the confrontation between the two Russians a struggle for the goalkeeper's crown, and so far the scales have tipped in favor of the 26-year-old native of Moscow.
The second match of the semi-final series began for Shesterkin on a minor note.
Already in the 3rd minute, a red lantern lit up behind him after a throw by Nikita Kucherov from the right circle of face-offs.
The Russian had ten seconds to realize the numerical advantage after the removal of Ryan Reeves.
By the way, for Kucherov, this was the 61st productive action in the majority in the NHL playoffs, and according to this indicator, he caught up with Alexander Ovechkin and Sergey Zubov.
In general, this is the third result among active players, only Evgeni Malkin (81) and Sidney Crosby (75) have more.
In addition, Nikita is seventh in NHL history in playoff games (42) with 2+ points for wingers.
As for the further development of the meeting, the Rangers restored the balance in the account in just three minutes.
K'Andre Miller distinguished himself: Vasilevsky reacted to his first shot, but the defender of the hosts turned out to be persistent and punched the Russian keeper on the second attempt.
After that, the initiative finally passed into the hands of the Rangers hockey players.
The guests frankly could not cope with the speed that the New Yorkers imposed on them.
As a result, at the end of the first period, due to the efforts of Kaapo Kakko, the game advantage was embodied in the score.
In the second game segment, the picture has not changed.
The Rangers kept firing at the gates of Vasilevsky, and Shesterkin almost repeated his own achievement from the Carolina series when he gave his partners two assists.
But in the first moment, when the Russian sent Reeves to the opponent's goal, Corey Perry saved Tampa from the goal, who took the puck off the ribbon with his hand, and in the second, the goalkeeper parried Artemy Panarin's shot.
In general, the goalkeeper of the reigning champions played the match at a high level, made 25 saves, although this did not help the team win.
The Rangers scored their third goal early in the third period.
In this episode, Kucherov made a gross mistake, who unsuccessfully threw a projectile out of the zone.
The hosts did not fail to take advantage of the given chance, and Mika Zibanejad hit the gates of Tampa with a spectacular wrist throw.
After that, the Lightning rushed to recoup with redoubled energy, and here Shesterkin had to work hard.
In the third period, he made 13 saves.
Rescue came out very spectacular after a throw at point-blank range by Patrick Maroon, as well as an attack by Stephen Stamkos in the last minute of the match.
By that time, Tampa had already managed to retaliate one goal, removing the goalkeeper and throwing all his strength into the attack.
But praise to Shesterkin - the guests failed to transfer the meeting into overtime.
After the reporting meeting, the Russian keeper "Rangers" had 540 saves in the first 16 playoff matches, and he came in second place in the history of the club in this indicator, equaling Ken Dryden.
The team record holder is Mike Smith, who made 568 rescues in the 2011/12 season.
In addition, Igor tied with Henrik Lundqvist with his tenth win with the Rangers in a single Stanley Cup.
After the match, partners traditionally paid tribute to the significant contribution of the Russian to the final victory.
“I can’t imagine how many times people praised Igor, who helped us out at such a moment throughout the year.
He is unreal.
This can be seen in every game - how many spectacular saves he makes.
Of course, we trust him very much and try to help him do his job.
We aim to limit the chances of opponents, block shots and all sorts of little things, but Six is Six, and he will always stop the puck, ”Miller said at a press conference.
Shesterkin himself noted that he did not experience any euphoria from the fact that he beat Vasilevsky's team twice in a row.
“My opinion remains the same.
Everything is as I said before: Andrei is still the best goalkeeper in the world.
We must not forget that the series goes up to four victories, so you just need to keep playing, ”Igor emphasized.
As for Tampa, the team lost two cup games in a row for the first time since 2019.
Then the Lightning lost twice in the series with Columbus, in which, by the way, Panarin played then.
Now the series moves to Tampa, the next match will be held at the Amali Arena on June 5th.