The New York Rangers have leaned on Igor Shesterkin before, and early in the 2026-27 season, they’re doing it again.
That matters because last year’s 2025-26 run showed just how sharply this team can swing depending on whether Shesterkin is in the crease. When he played, the Rangers stayed in the hunt and battled for a playoff spot.
When he didn’t, things unraveled fast. Shesterkin started 51 games and finished 25-19-6 while allowing 126 goals, but the drop-off behind him was brutal.
Jonathan Quick and Spencer Martin were the primary backups, and they simply didn’t stabilize things. The pair combined to start 28 games and went 7-20-2, a stretch that underscored how much New York needs its No. 1 goalie available and dialed in.
So far, Shesterkin has answered that call in a big way. He leads the NHL with four games played and three wins, and he’s also first in the league with 88 saves entering play on Oct.
- His 239:21 of ice time and 1.0 Goalie Point Shares are both tops in the NHL as well, a pretty loud statement this early in the schedule.
The numbers only get better from there. He’s on a three-game winning streak and has given up two goals or fewer in all four of his starts. According to NHL.com, Shesterkin now has 172 career games in which he has allowed two or fewer goals, and since the 2019-20 season, that total is tied for the fourth most among goaltenders in the league.
New York has to like what that means for the bigger picture. The Rangers are getting stronger play in front of him too, with better team defense and a much sharper finish on offense helping fuel the hot start. The club has also matched that with the kind of physical style head coach Mike Sullivan wants, while getting more efficiency on the scoring end.
And Shesterkin has even chipped in offensively. He became the first goalie in franchise history to score when he sent the puck into the empty net against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the home opener. In his next start against the Utah Mammoth, he added an assist on Eeli Tolvanen’s empty-net goal.
For a Rangers team trying to keep this start rolling, Shesterkin is doing what he always does when he’s at his best: taking over games and looking every bit like the top goalie in the NHL.
In Other News...
Rangers Hot Start Already Comes With One Third-Line Concern
The Rangers 4-1-0 start has given them the kind of early cushion every team wants, but the third line has already become a spot worth watching. Noah Laba, back for his sophomore season, has not yet found much rhythm in the opening stretch, and the numbers behind his start have lagged even as the rest of the roster has helped push New York up the standings.
Cole Beaudoins recent call-up adds another wrinkle. He made a promising impression in his NHL debut, and if that continues, the Rangers may have a real decision to make about how they want to shape that third-line mix. For a club off to such a clean start, it is the sort of internal competition that can matter quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Hot Start Has Fans Believing But The Real Test Is Coming
The Rangers have opened the season with four straight wins and sit atop the league after five games, a burst that has given the Garden plenty to feel good about even if the schedule has not yet offered a full measuring stick. There have been encouraging signs beyond the record, too, from Igor Shesterkins steady work in goal to a noticeable step forward in transition defense, the kind of details that suggest this start is more than a hot stretch built on bounces alone.
Fridays trip to Washington should offer a better read on where this team really stands. The Capitals are expected to be in the Metropolitan Division mix, and a matchup like that will tell a lot about whether the Rangers pace, structure and early confidence can travel beyond the first week of the season and hold up against a heavier challenge. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Blue Line Suddenly Looks Like A Real Strength Again
The Rangers blue line has gone from a question mark to one of the more encouraging parts of their early season, and the change has been easy to see in the teams overall balance. After opening with a loss, New York has strung together four straight wins, with the defense group looking deeper, steadier and less dependent on the same familiar faces every night.
What stands out is how different the rotation feels already, with the summer additions giving the staff more ways to build the lineup and keep pressure off the top pair. Last season the Rangers leaned heavily on their best defensemen just to hold things together, but this group has allowed for a more rounded approach, and it will be worth watching whether that holds once the schedule tightens and the matchups get tougher. [Read more 🡒]