The Rangers were able to maintain a sliver of their pride at Madison Square Garden.
Goalie Igor Shesterkin made it happen by making 22 saves and dropping his gloves with Devils netminder Jacob Markstrom in a 4-1 win over New Jersey on Tuesday night, ensuring the Blueshirts avoided a season sweep by both of their tristate rivals.
Devils forward Paul Cotter knocked into Shesterkin less than halfway through the first period and drew the ire of every Ranger on the ice — but especially No. 31.
As everybody piled up behind the Rangers net, Markstrom skated down and challenged Shesterkin.
The star Russian netminder calmly took off his gloves. Markstrom waited patiently.
The rival goaltenders then went blow-for-blow as the Garden reached a decibel level it hasn’t touched for Rangers games in way too long.
If a winner were to have his hand raised, like in true MMA style, it would have been Shesterkin.
The Rangers have talked a lot about playing with pride since their season went off the rails months ago. This was a victory rooted in pride for not just the team, but the fans and MSG.
It marked the last meeting against a tristate rival for the Rangers, who still finished with a troublesome 1-6 record against the Devils and the Islanders this season.
A pair of 6-3 losses to the Devils earlier this month set this game up to make Rangers history for all the wrong reasons. The club has never gone winless against the Devils and Islanders in a season.
The Rangers were able to avoid such a catastrophe, though it was only their 12th win at home this season.
Tipping a Tye Kartye shot, Conor Sheary got the Rangers on the board in the first period, their best against the Devils this season.
It was Sheary’s fifth goal in the past 12 games. To put it into perspective, Sheary posted just one goal through his first 43 games of the season.
Of the 16 games the Rangers have played in March, the power play has scored at least one goal in 11 of them. With the man advantage, which went 1-for-2 on the night, the Rangers doubled their lead off J.T. Miller’s tip of Alexis Lafrenière’s shot later in the opening frame.
The Devils power play, however, answered for the visitors less than a minute into the second period on a goal from Connor Brown.
Rookie Jaroslav Chmelar later pounced on a loose puck and whacked it in on his backhand to regain the two-goal lead for the Rangers.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
