With the Capitals’ first-round matchup against the Rangers looming, let’s take a minute to familiarize ourselves with the enemy, taking a look at who some of these guys are – and how the Caps can stop them.
Igor Shesterkin
#31 | Goalie
Height: 6’1” | Weight: 197 | Born: December 30, 1995
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia | Acquired: Drafted by the Rangers in 2014 in the fourth round, 118th overall
Scouting Report (via CapFriendly):
- One of the top goalies in the entire NHL
- Butterfly style. Athletic. Great feet. Excellent lateral push. Tracks the play. Fronts the puck moving side to side. Plays between his posts.
- Elite #1A
Why You Should Know Who He Is: The New York Rangers going from Henrik Lundqvist to Igor Shesterkin should be a crime. Shesterkin is a Vezina Trophy winner (for the 2020-21 season) and is a top-three goalie in the league. True, his overall stats this year are decent but not amazing – but that was mainly due to a poor start to the season, and he’s been stellar lately. In his first 32 games he had a .899 sv%; in 23 games since, he’s at a 0.929 sv%. So even though he and Lindgren have very similar stats over the course of the full season, Shesterkin is the hotter goalie (even with the Lindgren-esque mustache). Goalie is often the most important position in the postseason, and the Rangers have one of the best.
How the Caps Can Stop Him: This sounds so cliché, but a goalie can’t stop what he can’t see. The Caps simply need to get bodies to the net and shoot. A lot. The Caps have struggled this season at getting passes through the golden road to make goalies move, so they have to adapt to the relatively skill-deficient team they are now and just play some gritty, old-school hockey. Go to the net and try to get screens, tips, rebounds, etc. They’ll need to be in the trenches in order to beat one of the best goalies in the league.