Star Goaltending Similarities

Throughout 100 years of Rangers hockey, the franchise has developed a lineage of exceptional goaltenders. Over the last two decades, Henrik Lundqvist and Igor Shesterkin have continued the Blueshirts’ tradition of great goaltending.

Lundqvist and Shesterkin won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender 10 years apart, as Lundqvist won the award in 2011-12 and Shesterkin followed suit in 2021-22. Ironically, each of them had a dominating early season performance on the same calendar day – October 18 – that put them both on a path for an award-winning season.

Here is a look back at each of their outstanding performances a decade apart:

Lundqvist – October 18, 2011 at Vancouver (40 saves in a 4-0 Rangers win)

The Rangers began the 2011-12 season with a seven-game road trip while the first phase of Madison Square Garden’s Transformation was being completed. The trip started with two games in Sweden, and after returning to New York for one game against the Islanders, the team traveled to western Canada for the remaining four contests.

The Blueshirts were still searching for their first victory of the season when they faced the Canucks – the defending Presidents’ Trophy winners and Western Conference Champions – in Vancouver on October 18, as they entered the game with a 0-1-2 record. Vancouver led the NHL in goals the season prior and looked to strike quickly in this game against the Rangers.

Less than two minutes into the contest, Lundqvist made a point-blank save on a shot from Alex Burrows to prevent the Canucks from taking an early lead. He made 13 saves in the first period and 15 more in the second period. Through the first 40 minutes of the game, the Rangers were outshot 28-9, but Lundqvist’s brilliant goaltending kept the game tied 0-0.

The Rangers opened the scoring early in the third period, and with the team holding a one-goal lead, Lundqvist once again denied the Canucks from scoring. Less than a minute after the Blueshirts took the lead, the Rangers goaltender denied Vancouver’s Alex Edler scoring chance from right in front of the net, and then made two more saves on rebound chances the Canucks had after the initial shot. Three minutes later during a 4-on-4 situation, Lundqvist made two more saves on chances from Vancouver’s Kevin Bieksa and Keith Ballard near the net.

Following Lundqvist’s brilliant goaltending in the first half of the third period, the Canucks were outshooting the Rangers, 38-13, for the game. The Blueshirts gave their goaltender a cushion just before the midway point of the third period by extending their lead to two, and they added two more goals over the final 10 minutes of the game. When the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, Lundqvist had a 40-save shutout, and the Rangers had a 4-0 victory for their first win of the season.

Lundqvist also received the “Broadway Hat” following the game, which was the first time the hat was ever presented.

Shesterkin – October 18, 2021 at Toronto (40 saves in a 2-1 Rangers overtime win)

The Rangers entered the game against the Maple Leafs with a 1-1-1 record for the 2021-22 season. Toronto was one of the top offensive teams in the NHL the previous year and Auston Matthews, who had led the league with 41 goals during the abbreviated 2020-21 season, was making his 2021-22 season debut in the contest.

The Blueshirts took a 1-0 lead in the first period and Shesterkin stopped all 12 shots he faced during the opening frame. Toronto tied the contest early in the second period on a play that deflected into the net off Leafs forward Michael Bunting, and the Leafs controlled the course of action for the remainder of the period.

In outshooting the Rangers, 17-2, during the middle frame, Toronto had several high-danger scoring chances on Shesterkin, but the Rangers goaltender kept the game tied 1-1. During one sequence with nearly four minutes remaining in the second period, Shesterkin stretched out to stop a shot from Matthews with his glove, and then quickly recovered to make another glove save on Morgan Rielly’s rebound attempt.

The contest remained tied 1-1 through regulation, and Shesterkin made 37 saves in the first 60 minutes of the contest. The overtime featured back-and-forth action and great chances at both ends of the ice, and Shesterkin continued to be the difference in the game. First, he stopped a backhand shot from William Nylander early in the extra session and a wrist shot from Matthews near the midway point of the five-minute period.

Then, with less than two minutes remaining in overtime, Shesterkin skated out of his crease to play a puck that was slowly heading towards the right circle. Shesterkin’s clearing attempt, however, was intercepted by Matthews just inside the blue line, and Matthews quickly fired a shot towards the net. Shesterkin made the save with his left pad while he was standing just inside the faceoff circle, and then stopped Matthews on another chance a few seconds later.

Matthews finished the game with eight shots on goal and 16 shot attempts, but he was unable to beat Shesterkin. And shortly after the Rangers goaltender made his final two saves on Matthews to bring his save total for the game to 40, Artemi Panarin scored the winner in overtime to give the Rangers the victory.

How the Seasons Unfolded

For both Lundqvist and Shesterkin, their 40-save performances in goal were just the start of remarkable seasons for both. Lundqvist finished the 2011-12 season with a 1.97 GAA and a .930 SV%, winning the Vezina Trophy and helping the Rangers advance to the Eastern Conference Final. Shesterkin posted a 2.07 GAA and a .935 SV% in 2021-22 to earn the Vezina Trophy, and he also led the Rangers to an appearance in the Eastern Conference Final.

Two of the best individual seasons by a goaltender in 100 years of Rangers hockey were spurred by a memorable 40-save performance on an October 18 night.