The team that majors in hugs had two of them at the Garden on Friday and they might have been two of the most meaningful hugs — I mean huddles, no I mean hugs — of the season.
For there was the hug at center ice with the Blueshirts enveloping Barclay Goodrow, who became a particular hero of the night by beating Sergei Bobrovsky from 30 feet at 14:01 of overtime to give his team a 2-1 Game 2 victory over the Panthers that squared the conference final at one-apiece before the next two in Florida.
Then, there was the belated hug behind Igor Shesterkin’s net, about 100 feet from the first celebration. The goaltender, you see, did not allow himself to party until he saw an official signal a good goal after checking with the Toronto situation room.
“I was so happy, but I wait until the ref show that [it counts],” Shesterkin said, making the “good goal” motion with his right hand. “Sometimes you can lose a lot of emotion after [a goal is disallowed] so I wanted to wait.”
The Rangers were so much better in this one after Wednesday’s nothingburger of a 3-0 Game 1 defeat and not all the credit should go to Matt Rempe, who recorded nine hits in 10:06 of ice time that included five shifts in the third period and one in overtime, should it?
Well, no. The Blueshirts were on their toes from the start. They attacked. They got in on the forecheck. Sometimes No. 73 can be contagious. Or maybe it wasn’t that. Maybe it was the Rangers just being the Rangers and responding the way they have since Day One.
Wednesday, the Rangers were credited with 27 hits in a rather polite contest. Friday, they had 46 hits after regulation before finishing with 51 to the Panthers’ 42 in a much more contentious match. It’s only going to ratchet up as the series continues.
“Physicality is going to be a big part of the series, especially going down to Florida,” said Jacob Trouba, whose outstanding breakout pass to Goodrow under heavy forecheck pressure from Ryan Lomberg set the game-winning rush in motion. “That’s what makes our game good.
“I think we’re a better team when we’re skating and getting pucks to the net.”
Rempe was a breath of fresh air. He pretty much always is. He got extra time because Jimmy Vesey went down with an upper-body injury in the second period and Peter Laviolette was not cutting down to 10 forwards. There was no reason to sit Rempe, whose shifts created an elevated level of noise in the arena, each and every one of them.
“The fans, they’re great,” said Rempe. “I didn’t want to let anybody down.”
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The Rangers took a 1-0 lead at 4:12 when Vincent Trocheck converted Adam Fox’s goalmouth feed. But they could not build the lead. They failed on four power plays. The Panthers caught them at 18:09 of the second when Carter Verhaeghe beat Shesterkin from the slot off a stutter-step move.
The Panthers wouldn’t beat Shesterkin again even through large swaths of the third period and overtime when the Puddy Tats were able to pin the Blueshirts in their own end for shifts at a time. Shesterkin was never under siege, the shots were 30-27 for New York, but there always seemed to be activity at his crease with the Panthers sending pucks and bodies to the net.
“I think every game is a little bit stressful. You need to be ready for everything,” the goaltender said. “Sometimes it’s a lot of shots, sometimes not so much and you just need to play focused.”
This is Shesterkin’s third playoff run with the Blueshirts, not including the 2020 bubble series against Carolina in which he started the third and final game of the Canes sweep after Henrik Lundqvist had started the first two. Shesterkin has started 40 consecutive postseason contests.
“He chills, doesn’t say much, doesn’t say anything, really,” Trouba said when asked about Shesterkin’s demeanor in the room. “Quickie’s kind of chattering in the corner and Igor’s just getting in his zone, doing his thing.”
Doing his thing by stopping the puck. Doing his thing by imbuing his team with confidence.
“We are confident in each other,” Shesterkin. “We all have trust. We are on the same page.”
This is a heavyweight fight, a best-on-best battle to play for the Stanley Cup. It’s not pretty. It’s a punch in the mouth. It’s Barclay Goodrow. It’s Matt Rempe. It’s Igor Shesterkin.
The Rangers are seven wins away from hugging it out at the Canyon of Heroes.
