The Rangers extended their win streak to five games with a solid 2-0 win over the Flames. New York wasn’t perfect, as Calgary still generated several solid chances, but overall, they were vastly better than how they played against Chicago. The major difference was Igor Shesterkin, who made 30 saves to notch his first – no, that is not a misprint – shutout of the season.
Coming into the game, Shesterkin was a major question mark. With Jacob Markstrom on a roll, Calgary appeared to have the edge in net. While Markstrom was brilliant in his own right, Shesterkin was just as solid, if not spectacular. His glove hand, a weakness much of the season, stoned the Flames repeatedly as he flashed leather over and over to either snag or get a piece of shots to thwart prime scoring chances. Granted, it was just one game, but the confidence Igor showed between the pipes was also something we have not seen much of lately. If he can put together a repeat performance in New York’s next game, some of the panic that exists will dissipate.
Story #2 was the play of Adam Edstrom. Called up Saturday, Edstrom had just returned to the Wolf Pack lineup after missing five weeks with an injury. Coach Peter Laviolette wasted little time inserting Edstrom in the lineup, sitting Tyler Pitlick. Edstrom did not look out of place, showing enough that Tuesday, New York placed Pitlick on waivers and sent down Matt Rempe, who was also promoted Saturday. Edstrom now gets a chance to fill the 4C role with a little less than a month to go until the trade deadline.
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In a similar vein, the third story also has about a month to try and keep his role. Jonny Brodzinski has settled in nicely as the team’s third center. Hartford’s former captain and one of their leading scorers, Brodzinski, has shown a little more each game. While not the prototypical third-line center, Brodzinski has opened their eyes with his play, earning every bit of ice time he has received. One additional key is that the Will Cuylle-Brodzinski-Kaapo Kakko trio has had improved chemistry and play in each game. The adage of if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, applies here.
The Blueshirts have now won five games in a row. They have an opportunity to extend that streak to six in their contest on Thursday against the Canadiens. Following that game, it’s New York-New York at Met Life Stadium in the Stadium Series match-up on Sunday.