A curious moment from the match with New Jersey added wickedness to the Russian goalkeeper.
Doorman New York Rangers Igor Shesterkin This season is unstable. Having received the award for the best goalkeeper of the championship, the Russian hockey player cannot find himself in any way.
In the final NHL regular season matchup against “New Jersey Devils” The goalkeeper also faced non-playing issues. A curious set of circumstances prompted a backlash from patriotic American hockey fans.
“What the hell?”
Last season, Russian Rangers goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin deservedly received the Vezina Trophy award as the best goalkeeper in the NHL. The Russian’s miracles in goal helped the New York team reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2015. Igor was even nominated for the Hart Trophy.
This year, pundits and fans have far more complaints about Shesterkin. The goalkeeper behaves erratically, often giving weak matches. The road game against New Jersey also started with a struggling Bay. Even before the initial throw-in, the player managed to get into a curious situation, which some American fans took extremely painfully.
A video of a fan of the “devils” appeared on social networks, where hockey players of both teams stand in front of the American flag during the anthem. The only one who looked the other way at that moment was the Russian Rangers goalkeeper.
Has Shesterkin turned his back on the flag? What the hell? I’ve never seen a goalkeeper look away from other players on ice during the national anthem,” @NewEraNJDevils1 wrote.
The video gained more than 60 thousand views in a short time. Many people liked it. After such a video, the Russian will obviously have more ill-wishers in the United States, although Igor has absolutely nothing to do with it.
The fact is that the whole team initially looked at Shesterkin, being behind. But just before the anthem was played, the field hockey players turned away. All this action happened behind Igor’s back and he didn’t see it. Teammates Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider tried to shout at the Russian, but he couldn’t hear them. As a result, it was like ignoring the American flag.
Not Shesterkin’s day
After the start of the match, the Russian continued to face problems, but Igor was not to blame for them either. On account of the goalkeeper there were 39 out of 43 reflex shots. In addition, Igor did not spare himself at all, substituting all parts of his body for opponents’ shots.
In the middle of the third period, a powerful blow from the Canadian defender of the “devils” Damon Severson hit Shesterkin right in the forehead. The hit was accentuated, not accidental. After that, the Russian goalkeeper came to his senses for a long time, wincing with discomfort and buzzing in his ears.
But Igor’s heroic save didn’t help the Rangers. The Azzurri lost in extra time with the score 3:4, even though they were leading by two goals. New Jersey’s comeback began immediately after the puck hit the goaltender’s helmet. Although there is no direct fault of the goalkeeper in them, but this does not make the defeat any less unpleasant for him.
The loss ended the New York team’s streak.
