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At the MSG Training Center, the Rangers players facing questions about the events of the past two seasons took turns addressing the circumstances that led to the dismissal of their head coach and associate coach.
They attempted to identify what was to blame before dispersing for a playoff-less summer.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin shared his perspective, pointing out a turning point during the season that the team couldn’t navigate effectively. He acknowledged the team’s responsibility to find a way to turn things around.
The star Russian netminder, who the organization committed to for the next eight years at $92 million, couldn’t say exactly what broke.
Maybe they lost some luck, he said, or weren’t playing with as much confidence as they did last season.
Shesterkin noted that even when the Blueshirts fell behind by three last season, they knew they could come back.
He said he didn’t feel that this season.
Shesterkin wrapped up the season with his sixth shutout, contributing to a 4-0 victory against the Lightning. This win brought his career shutout total to 21, placing him tied for eighth on the franchise’s all-time list alongside Lorne Chabot.

The 29-year-old finished with a 27-29-5 record with a career-high goals-against average of 2.89 and a career-low save percentage of .905.

“I look at this team on paper and it’d be crazy not to think that [this team should be in the playoffs], especially starting with the goalie,” defenseman Calvin de Haan said of Shesterkin. “He’s probably the best player on the team. F–k, he’s good. I think we pissed away good goaltending [this season], which is not good.
“That’s the most important position and if that starts going to the wayside, it’s not good.”