Rangers goal breakdown: Shesterkin hurt, but Rangers hold on

The Rangers fans are holding their breath as we wait to see what the severity of Igor Shesterkin’s injury is. But the game itself wasn’t the blowout we thought it could be. The Sharks blocked about 3,000 shots, and it was Ryan Strome’s powerplay goal in the first that proved to be the game winner. Alex Georgiev made nine very clutch saves in relief of Shesterkin to preserve the win.

The scoreboard was just a 1-0 game, but the underlying metrics show the Rangers controlled much of the game. They had a 54% expected goals share, including 60% in the second period. They had the shot attempts advantage through all three periods as well.

A win is a win, let’s see what the Shesterkin injury news comes to be.

Rangers 1, Sharks 0 – It’s a powerplay goal!

What an effort by the full unit to keep the puck in the zone, and then it was back in formation. Ryan Strome found open space the size of Manhattan, and fired it by Hill. What a shot.

Game Flow – All Rangers

As expected, the Rangers mostly controlled this game. San Jose had a few flashes, but this was the Rangers game to lose. This is what you expect to see from the Rangers against the Sharks, but the fact this could have been a trap game, especially when they couldn’t score, means a lot.

Shot Heatmap – Again all Rangers

The Rangers had the quality and quantity in front of the net. The Sharks had their chances, but the Rangers managed to keep them at bay. You can’t keep an NHL team down forever, so the defense and goaltending came up strong when they needed it.

Alex Georgiev was always going to get the start against the Blackhawks, and this just confirmed it. In the presser, Gerard Gallant said the injury “isn’t as serious as we think,” so that’s a good thing. But aside from the injury, a good win for the Rangers.