Player Discussion Igor Shesterkin

[Mike in Houston]

Is hockey still fun, Igor?

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

Its a little alarming how many pucks are passing through him.

Kinda weird actually.

 

[Kords]

Aside from how often he has been getting beaten clean, he hasn’t been handling the puck nearly as much as he used to. His ability to move the puck out cleanly or find the right man to skate it out went a long way in killing the oppositions forecheck. He just seems mentally lost right now.

 

[tlk]

The team is giving up high danger chances, but Igor is stopping a much lower percentage of them than the average goalie.

Possibly, but when your most (and only with Zib out) productive line ends up with -2, -2, -3 it's still closer to being a moot point. And they're habitually bad defensively since like November. IMO it's just catching up with us majorly in Jan.
We need Kakko and we need Chytil back and hopefully with them we'll get our structure and discipline back. Lavi needs to sort it out somehow anyway.

 

[majordomo]

Aside from how often he has been getting beaten clean, he hasn’t been handling the puck nearly as much as he used to. His ability to move the puck out cleanly or find the right man to skate it out went a long way in killing the oppositions forecheck. He just seems mentally lost right now.

His puck handling has gone down along with his save percentage....

 

[SnowblindNYR]

His puck handling has gone down along with his save percentage....

To me save percentage is inherently volatile but puck handling shouldn't be. If there's any evidence that he lost all of his confidence there it is.

 

[TGWL]

His puck handling has gone down along with his save percentage....

I'm still waiting for his body to go down. Seems shots go past him and he doesn't even move.

 

[majordomo]

I'm still waiting for his body to go down. Seems shots go past him and he doesn't even move.

He gave up two goals like that last night.....the breakaway goal by Kyrou was a perfect example .... he didn't even flinch.

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

Aside from how often he has been getting beaten clean, he hasn’t been handling the puck nearly as much as he used to. His ability to move the puck out cleanly or find the right man to skate it out went a long way in killing the oppositions forecheck. He just seems mentally lost right now.

Great point. I was thinking about this last night. He handles it essentially the same way as Quick does. He was basically a sixth skater out there when he was at his best.

I can't think of a similar situation in all my years of watching hockey besides those that were injury related. Honestly, closest thing I can think of is like a Rick Ankiel situation.

 

[zlev]

he's just in a slump. better now than in April or May. if he was god Igor now we'd be worried he couldn't keep it going through the playoffs.

 

[Mac n Gs]

Don’t care about the funk as long as he’s back to himself by March/April

 

[nyr2k2]

The puckhandling is definitely an issue. I've actually found the way he moves the puck to be kind of haphazard throughout his career; there's no doubt he has tremendous ability and makes a lot of great plays with the puck, but I've always found that perhaps because of knowing how good he is, he does a lot of dumb shit as well. A puck will be behind the net and a defenseman is coming in with no pressure to retrieve it, but then Shesterkin will cut it off and just fling it up the ice to the neutral zone for a turnover. Stuff like that. He gives the puck away a ton and always has. Of course, this year he's not making the positive plays which makes it look even worse. IMO it's the threat of his puckhandling that has the biggest impact, but teams don't seem to respect it right now.

IDK what to make of him right now. He's been up and down since last season. Is he ever going to be that absolutely dominant force he was in the Vezina year? I'm not sure, goalies run hot and cold. Not to be lazy in comparing him to a countryman but he reminds me a little of Bobrovsky when he came into the league. Sometimes he was all-world, sometimes he was "eh he's pretty solid." And as he aged he settled into something close to decent. Hopefully he gets it back on track sometime between now and the end of next season. Otherwise, depending on his ask he may be gone.

 

[duhmetreE]

Hasn't been the same since having a child.

Not knocking him for that, just an observation. Focus and priorities change... or it's a coincidence

As long as he's lights out in the Playoffs, it's fine.

 

[EdJovanovski]

He's earned the benefit of the doubt, people thought last season was a down year too from the previous one yet he went on to have an even better playoff than 21/22.

 

[ReddestRum]

So much bitching about Igor's save % and you got a team like the Avs with Georgiev out here with a .898 as the Avs continue climb the standings.

You know, it must be nice for Geo to know that he doesn't have to steal or be the difference maker every.. single.. game.. because the rest of the team contributes to putting the puck in the net to take some of that weight off so he can still give them a chance at winning.

This fanbase does this year after year, with every goalie that's between the pipes when they have a hard time of carrying the whole team on their back, when every year we have a defense made of pylons. We can also add how insanely trash we are at scoring in 5v5 and the lack of line depth.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

So much bitching about Igor's save % and you got a team like the Avs with Georgiev out here with a .898 as the Avs continue climb the standings.

You know, it must be nice for Geo to know that he doesn't have to steal or be the difference maker every.. single.. game.. because the rest of the team contributes to putting the puck in the net to take some of that weight off so he can still give them a chance at winning.

This fanbase does this year after year, with every goalie that's between the pipes when they have a hard time of carrying the whole team on their back, when every year we have a defense made of pylons. We can also add how insanely trash we are at scoring in 5v5 and the lack of line depth.

The Rangers have more talent than most on this board would like to admit but you took a team that won cup with garbage goaltending because it has two top 5 players in the world and might have the most talent in the world overall as an example. Most teams even talented teams don't have enough talent to overcome shoddy goaltending. Add in injuries and you have what you're seeing now.

 

[will1066]

Has he been skipping class with Allaire?

 

[TGWL]

he's just in a slump. better now than in April or May. if he was god Igor now we'd be worried he couldn't keep it going through the playoffs.

How about decent/good/consistent Igor? Can we get that? I don't think we're saying we need hart mode numbers.

 

[Ruggs225]

So much bitching about Igor's save % and you got a team like the Avs with Georgiev out here with a .898 as the Avs continue climb the standings.

You know, it must be nice for Geo to know that he doesn't have to steal or be the difference maker every.. single.. game.. because the rest of the team contributes to putting the puck in the net to take some of that weight off so he can still give them a chance at winning.

This fanbase does this year after year, with every goalie that's between the pipes when they have a hard time of carrying the whole team on their back, when every year we have a defense made of pylons. We can also add how insanely trash we are at scoring in 5v5 and the lack of line depth.

In the month of January he has a sv % of .840…for theyyear in his 10 losses he has a sv % of .829. In wins its .943

In Jan, georgiev has a sv% of .883. In losses it is .855. When georgy wins its .918


Basically when Shesty loses he plays like absolute shit. Georgiev is much more consistent., lows arent as low, highs arent as high. Thats why.

But dont let stats ruin your false argument.

As for 5on5 scoring. We are middle of the pack for both actual and expected. A little below avg if anything. Not trash.

Edit: here is what carrying a team looks like.

Lundqvist
Wins - .945
Losses -.878
Overtime losses .915

Shesty looks lost right now and is costing the team games. If he can play at league avg we dont lose all three of the last 3. We probably win 2

 

[SnowblindNYR]

How about decent/good/consistent Igor? Can we get that? I don't think we're saying we need hart mode numbers.

One that's not actively losing us games. And it's not like he's incapable of it. As I mentioned in this thread or the other, this game was similar to the Calgary game. Few shots, but some high danger shots on those. We won 3-1. That game we were fully healthy and played a significantly worse game than yesterday. One game we win 3-1 and one game we lose 5-2. It's the goaltending.

 

[Ruggs225]

Right now shesty is playing at NJD level goaltending.

 

[Peltz]

He is having an awful season. I do wonder if they rushed him back from injury when he missed some time.

 

[ReddestRum]

One that's not actively losing us games. And it's not like he's incapable of it. As I mentioned in this thread or the other, this game was similar to the Calgary game. Few shots, but some high danger shots on those. We won 3-1. That game we were fully healthy and played a significantly worse game than yesterday. One game we win 3-1 and one game we lose 5-2. It's the goaltending.

1st goal: East to west pass, three rangers covering two blues players, no one picks up the trailer, and Kyrou shoots while Igor is still moving to deal with the unimpeded pass.

2nd goal: 6 uninterrupted passes that start from behind the blues goal line. Three of those passes were in our D-zone on the rush with no setup time needed. Our D doesn't get a stick on the puck or any of the four blues players on the rush.

3rd goal: Besides the fact that we take three penalties in five minutes, all four PKers are on one side of the ice and leave a blues player alone right in the slot in front of Igor. This is probably an easy goal anyway if the blues player didn't have to jump and catch the pass mid-air. The dude still has time to jump, catch, settle, and shoot. Igor still has to make a point blank save right in front of him and Rangers are scrambling, can't get one stick on a free puck, and leave Kyrou open by himself in the circle for the goal.

4th goal: Zach Jones and that entire line giving Kyrou a breakaway from his own D-zone. Igor gives up the breakaway goal and STILL has to make another breakaway save a few moments after.

I think these losses are something much more than pinning it black and white on goaltending.

 

[CasusBelli]

He has the attention span of a gnat; looks surprised whenever he lets in a goal; doesn’t realize when opposing players breathe down his neck while he handles the puck. We will inevitably trade him, and he will find his game with someone else, which will frustrate us. Then the same thing will happen at that team, etc.

 

[Ruggs225]

1st goal: East to west pass, three rangers covering two blues players, no one picks up the trailer, and Kyrou shoots while Igor is still moving to deal with the unimpeded pass.

2nd goal: 6 uninterrupted passes that start from behind the blues goal line. Three of those passes were in our D-zone on the rush with no setup time needed. Our D doesn't get a stick on the puck or any of the four blues players on the rush.

3rd goal: Besides the fact that we take three penalties in five minutes, all four PKers are on one side of the ice and leave a blues player alone right in the slot in front of Igor. This is probably an easy goal anyway if the blues player didn't have to jump and catch the pass mid-air. The dude still has time to jump, catch, settle, and shoot. Igor still has to make a point blank save right in front of him and Rangers are scrambling, can't get one stick on a free puck, and leave Kyrou open by himself in the circle for the goal.

4th goal: Zach Jones and that entire line giving Kyrou a breakaway from his own D-zone. Igor gives up the breakaway goal and STILL has to make another breakaway save a few moments after.

I think these losses are something much more than pinning it black and white on goaltending.

Sometimes a goalie has to make the clutch save. The one where u go above and beyond. He has not been. Binnington did, mont blanc did etc.

That first goal is conpletely stoppable. He was basically set to the shooter and just got beat. The second wans t his fault and the third he let a juicy rebound dead center. The d failed to clear though. The breakaway is a breakaway and he got absolutly beat by a low wrist shot from decently far away. Again completely stoppable. He barely even reacted to that one be was beat so badly.

He isnt playing right. Mentally he is f***ed right now. U just see it with how he is playing and reacting very late.

The team isnt helping, be he is not doing himself or the team any favors