After an 8-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, the Ottawa Senators’ goal scoring didn’t come quite as easily in New York. The Senators played a nearly perfect road game, dominating the pace of play, but Igor Shesterkin and the scoreboard didn’t care.
Shesterkin played out of his mind, leading the Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the Senators. As former Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist said in the post game show on MSG, “They’re not winning this game with good goaltending. It had to be outstanding goaltending.”
He also added a glowing review of the Senators: “I haven’t seen many NHL teams this season play with THAT level of intensity.”
Shesterkin made some unreal saves in the game, and while he’ll never be able to make a compelling case for turning down the richest goalie contract offer in history, there’s no question he was excellent in a game where the Sens led in shots 41-18.
Alexis Lafreniere led the Rangers’ offense with a goal and an assist, taking advantage of a couple of moments involving Josh Norris and Travis Hamonic.
Early in the first, Norris was a little too casual while breaking out near the Ottawa blue line. Lafreniere knocked the puck away from Norris and Artemi Panarin picked it up. Panarin then used Travis Hamonic as a screen, ripping the puck between the defenseman’s legs and past Linus Ullmark, low to the blocker side.
Lafreniere struck again in the third. With Norris off for hooking, Hamonic lost track of Lafreniere, who crept in from behind the net and redirected a shot in from Filip Chytil.
Shesterkin was excellent for the Rangers as the crowd chanted his name, but he was also lucky at times. The Senators put three past him that went off the iron, and Adam Gaudette missed an open net.
Gaudette did score a beauty to ruin Shesterkin’s shutout, ripping a one-timer over his shoulder for his fifth goal in ten games. But that wasn’t enough.
However, if the Senators play like that all season, they’ll have the best road record in the NHL.
No rest now for the weary. Seattle skated in Ottawa on Friday morning and will take on the Sens at the CTC on Saturday night.
