NEW YORK — The Eastern Conference finals showdown pitting Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers against Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning is a matchup between what many believe are the two best goalies in the world.
Who’s the best? Shesterkin humbly concedes that it’s not him. At least not yet.
“He’s the best goalie in the world right now,” the Rangers netminder said. “I think it’ll be a good battle.”
Vasilevskiy is the more accomplished of the two. He led the Lightning to back-to-back Stanley Cups and won playoff MVP honors last postseason. He won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender in 2018-19 and led the NHL in wins for five straight seasons. He’s considered one of the NHL’s greatest postseason goalies of all time, including shutouts in six of the last 10 games in which the Lightning have eliminated an opponent.
At 26, Shesterkin is only a year younger than Vasilevskiy. While the Lightning goalie made his NHL debut as a 20-year-old for Tampa Bay, Shesterkin didn’t grace NHL ice until he was 24. He has a long way to go to match his countryman’s accomplishments, but he’s gaining traction: Shesterkin is expected to win his first Vezina Trophy this season after leading the league in save percentage (.935) and goals-against average (2.07) and ended up earning a nomination for the Hart Trophy as regular-season MVP.
While his first postseason run had its bumps — like getting pulled twice in Pittsburgh during the first round — Shesterkin posted consecutive Game 7 wins to propel the Rangers to the conference finals, including a 36-save performance to eliminate the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night.
“Obviously, our goaltender was once again our best player,” said forward Chris Kreider, who scored twice in the victory.
The two Russian goalies know each other, but they’re acquaintances at best.
“No, not too close,” Shesterkin said.
They were teammates, briefly, with the Russian national team in 2016-2017.
“I was on the bench,” Shesterkin joked, when asked if they played together.
Now, they’ll be at opposite ends of the ice for the conference finals, starting Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden (8 ET, ESPN and ESPN+). Vasilevskiy leads the playoffs with a .932 save percentage (minimum 10 games); Shesterkin is right behind him at .928.
“Obviously, Vasilevskiy has a track record that speaks for itself. But I think Shesty has one that does too. What he’s done this year has been insanely impressive,” Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said. “Two good goalies coming together. But I have a lot of faith in Shesty.”
Through two rounds, there have been 332 skaters who have appeared in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Igor Shesterkin has outscored 165 of them.
The Rangers goalie has three assists in the playoffs, including two in Game 6 against the Carolina Hurricanes. It was the fifth time in NHL postseason history that a goaltender has registered multiple assists in a playoff game. None had ever done it while facing elimination, as the Rangers were that night.
“Honestly, I think it was mostly the guys who did all the work. I just left them the puck, and they delivered,” Shesterkin said.
“It’s always great to have a goalie whose next step is to start scoring goals,” Rangers winger Artemi Panarin joked.
Obviously, the Rangers are where they are because Shesterkin prevents goals rather than assisting on them.
His playoffs started in epic fashion, stopping 79 of 83 Pittsburgh shots in a triple-overtime loss in Game 1. Shesterkin rebounded with a Game 2 win in which he gave up two goals on 41 shots.
But then came the games in Pittsburgh. It was the first time Shesterkin had played on the road in the playoffs with opposing fans in the stands — his only previous playoff experience was in the 2020 Toronto bubble, starting a Game 3 loss to the Hurricanes in a fanless building.
With Penguins fans gleefully mocking his performance — chants of “EEEEEE-GOOOORE!” rang throughout the arena — he was pulled from Game 3 after giving up four goals on 15 shots in the first period and pulled from Game 4 in the second period after giving up six goals on 30 shots.
While coach Gerard Gallant called the pulls a chance to “reset” his goalie, he also said the poor performances weren’t on Shesterkin.
“I’ve never had an issue with Igor,” he said. “I had more of an issue with our team when those goals come up. He’s a young goalie, he didn’t have much playoff experience. That’s a key position when you’re a goaltender. You [can get] rattled a little bit. I don’t know if he got rattled. I don’t bother with him.”
He stopped 31 of 34 shots in Game 6 back in Pittsburgh, forcing a Game 7. While he gave up three goals in that game, he stopped 13 shots in the third period and overtime to earn the series win.
“A little shaky before a game, but when I got to the ice, I try to forget about everything,” Shesterkin said of playing in a Game 7.
Against Carolina, he posted a .959 save percentage, a 1.38 goals-against average and 7.97 goals saved above replacement in the series. He was steady throughout, at home and on the road. Like the rest of the Rangers’ inexperienced playoff performers, he was figuring things out before the NHL’s eyes.
“We talk about our young kids. They got great experience in these 14 games,” Gallant said. “When you first asked about our inexperience against Pittsburgh and if I was worried about it, well, yes I was, but I wasn’t going to tell you about it. But now these guys know how to play a playoff game.”
The next couple of weeks will indicate whether the Rangers are ready to take down a team looking for the first Stanley Cup three-peat since 1983. But they’re confident that Shesterkin will give them a chance to win.
Then again, so is Tampa Bay when it comes to its netminder.
Jon Cooper was at a loss for words. Which, if you’ve heard the Tampa Bay Lightning coach talk, is a rare moment indeed.
“I’m not sure if there’s much more I can say about him,” Cooper said when asked about Vasilevskiy’s performance in sweeping the Florida Panthers in the second round. “He just gives us a chance to win.”
Cooper was in his third season with the Lightning when Vasilevskiy arrived on the roster as goalie Ben Bishop‘s backup. When Bishop tore his groin in Game 2 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks, Vasilevskiy entered the game, made nine saves and earned the victory in just 9:13 of ice time. After Bishop returned for Game 3, Vasilevskiy started Game 4, stopping 17 of 19 shots in the loss.
“The last two days I have more fun than all season. That’s awesome,” Vasilevskiy said at the time.
That instant enthusiasm for pressure-filled moments might explain why Vasilevskiy has the legacy he now has in the playoffs. He’s tied for second all time in postseason save percentage (.925) for goalies with at least 90 playoff starts with Dominik Hasek and Tuukka Rask, just .001 away from Braden Holtby, who won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018. No goalie has more wins (57) in fewer games (92) in playoff history.
“My job is just to give the boys the chance to win. We’ve done a pretty good job doing that,” Vasilevskiy said last week. “I think that the way the whole team is playing in those games … constant blocked shots, sacrifices. Boys breaking bones to stop the puck. It’s obviously not just me. I just try to do my job as best as I can.”
Cooper said that’s the essence of a successful postseason netminder.
“A goalie’s job, if he wants to be elite, is to give his team a chance to win,” he said. “I think there are big misnomers out there. You think of Grant Fuhr. I’ve talked to Wayne Gretzky about this. Fuhr may let in five, but he gives his team a chance to win. If they score six, he shuts it down at five. It comes in a variety of ways.”
But while other goalies have put up impressive numbers, none have earned the reputation as a “closer” like Vasilevskiy. The winning streak in elimination games is impressive but becomes even more so when you look at how he has done it. Two of his six shutouts in that 10-game streak were 1-0 games — against the Islanders in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semifinal in 2020 and then against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2021.
“When we look back, when we’re older, that’s going to be something that stays there a long time. It’s pretty cool to play with a player that’s going to go down as one of the best that’s ever played the game,” Lightning winger Alex Killorn said. “That’s how you gauge players: How they play in big-time games. He’s been nothing but tremendous in these games.”
His closeout game against the Panthers last round was a 49-save shutout, marking the second-most saves in a series-clinching shutout since saves were first tracked in 1955-56.
“We knew they were going to push and throw a lot of pucks on net. But there he was. Vasy. As he always is,” captain Steven Stamkos said.
Before sweeping the Panthers, there were actually questions about Vasilevskiy in the opening round against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He gave up three or more goals in each of the first six games, which the teams split.
“It’s funny how five games into the Toronto series, you’re asking all these questions about ‘what’s wrong with Vasilevskiy?’ and it’s shocking to me. There’s never a doubt in our locker room,” Cooper said.
That’s because in Game 7, Vasilevskiy did as Vasilevskiy does: He stopped 30 of 31 shots to eliminate the Leafs.
“On the other side, it could probably be a little demoralizing when you look at him and you just don’t feel like you can score,” Cooper said. “I’m thankful that he’s on our side.”
Both sides in the Eastern Conference finals have outstanding goalies. It’s a bit reminiscent of the last time these two teams met in the conference finals in 2015, when it was Bishop vs. Henrik Lundqvist in a seven-game series. That matchup was memorable for not living up to the hype, for the most part: The average combined goals per game was six.
Will the 2022 conference finals offer another offensive surprise, or will NHL fans get the goalie showdown they’re hoping to see?
“Igor’s a great goalie. Vasilevskiy won Cups in back-to-back years,” Gallant said. “I think it’s going to be an outstanding series.”