Igor Shesterkin gave Madison Square Garden a finish it will not soon forget, firing into an empty net for the first goal of his NHL career as the New York Rangers rolled past the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 in Thursday’s home opener.
Shesterkin joins goalie-goal club
With Tampa Bay’s net vacant late in the third period, Shesterkin sent an unassisted shot the length of the ice at 17:26 to close the scoring. The Rangers goaltender also stopped 24 shots in New York’s first win of the season.
“I told everyone I would keep trying to score, and I did,” Shesterkin said.
- Shesterkin is the 18th NHL goalie credited with a goal.
- His marker was the 21st goalie goal in League history.
- The Rangers improved to 1-1-0 after opening the season with a 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.
- Tampa Bay began its campaign at 0-1-0, with Andrei Vasilevskiy making 20 saves.
The night represented a sharp turn from last season’s slow starts at the Garden. New York was blanked in each of its first three home dates a year ago and went scoreless in five of its opening seven games there while posting a 0-6-1 record. The Rangers had not scored their first home goal last season until 57 seconds into Game 4.
New faces help Rangers build early cushion
New York’s special teams set the tone. Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring on the power play at 5:34 of the first period. Pavel Dorofeyev rang a shot off the crossbar from the right circle, and the rebound fell across to Zibanejad in the left circle for the finish.
Dorofeyev doubled the lead at 10:51, hammering a one-timer from the inner edge of the left faceoff circle off Oliver Bjorkstrand’s feed. It was Dorofeyev’s first Rangers goal and part of a two-point evening in his second game with the club.
- Zibanejad finished with one goal and one assist.
- Dorofeyev recorded a goal and an assist, his first two points for New York.
- Adam Fox supplied two assists.
- Eeli Tolvanen scored his first Rangers goal.
Dorofeyev arrived from the Vegas Golden Knights on June 26, then signed a seven-year contract worth $77 million, carrying an $11 million average annual value. He led Vegas with 37 goals last season.
Penalty kill holds Tampa Bay at bay
Tolvanen pushed the Rangers ahead 3-0 just 1:40 into the second. He moved the puck from the right boards toward the slot for Will Cuylle, but the pass never reached Cuylle. Instead, it deflected in off the right leg of Lightning defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous.
Nikita Kucherov put Tampa Bay on the board at 7:59 of the middle period when his backhanded pass deflected in off Rangers forward Noah Laba. New York answered before intermission, though, as Gabe Perreault redirected a puck that struck both his stick and skate at 16:01 for a 4-1 lead.
The Rangers finished 1-for-2 on the power play and killed all seven Tampa Bay advantages, a complete special-teams response after the opening loss in Boston. Shesterkin’s empty-net strike supplied the final punctuation on a five-goal Garden opener.
