from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,
Chants of “Igor! Igor! Igor!” resounded through the Garden midway through the second period of this win-or-else Game 3 of the second round.
Nino Niederreiter had just scored a goal.
Had scored a relatively soft goal for Carolina that fluttered through on the short side that cut the Rangers’ lead to 2-1, that is.
Yet the salute to the goaltender — who had been the Rangers’ MVP throughout the season and whose work early in this one had allowed his team to gain its equilibrium in the series — filled the round building as if he’d just made a breakaway save on Tony DeAngelo.
“I’d like to thank the fans for the energy they provided,” Igor Shesterkin said through a translator. “They supported me even though I kind of let them down in that one spot, but the energy at MSG is always great, they’re always charged up and I can’t thank them enough for that.”
When the mutual admiration society meets at the Garden on Tuesday for Game 4, the Rangers will seek to square this round at 2-all in the wake of Sunday’s 3-1 victory in which Shesterkin put his stamp on the series and the Blueshirts’ marquee forwards also made an impression after being marked absent for the opening two matches in Carolina.
Highlights are below.
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