#igor-shesterkin

#igor-shesterkin

The Rangers are what they are at this point. Every lineup change is shuffling chairs on the Titanic. Brett Berard is a scratch tonight in Washington, but so is Conor Sheary, so I'm not entirely sure what the Sheary blamers are going to do about this one. Brennan Othmann is on the fourth line, behind both Jonny Brodzinski and Taylor Raddysh.

It's been a minute since the Rangers dropped a 7 spot on an opponent, and while a small sample, it's clear this team missed Vincent Trocheck. His line with Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere has been the Harlem Globetrotters on ice. Maybe we deeply underestimated just how much of a skilled glue guy he is for this team. The line scored four of the seven goals, including multi point nights for Panarin (1-3-4) and Trocheck (2-0-2).

If there were ever a goalie who should be named captain of his team, it's Igor Shesterkin. He's by far the most valuable player on the team (sorry Panarin, Fox), and he's the Rangers biggest advantage every night he plays. That the Rangers essentially went from Henrik Lundqvist to Igor Shesterkin is one of the coolest things I've experienced as a hockey fan. That's going to be close to three decades of never worrying about the Rangers goalies.