NEW YORK — Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was pulled in the second period against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night after giving up five goals on 12 shots.
The 28-year-old Russian, who entered the contest with a 6-2-1 with a 2.22 goals-against average, allowed a goal by Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin 26 seconds into the game.
He then gave up four goals in the second period, including three in a span of 2:12 span, as the Sabres took a 5-0 lead. Dylan Cozens, Tage Thompson, Jordan Greenway and Sam Lafferty scored in the middle period before Shesterkin was replaced by Jonathan Quick with 6:09 to go after Lafferty scored.
The Sabres went on to beat the Rangers 6-1.
“It really unraveled in the second,″ Rangers defenseman and captain Jacob Trouba said. “Our goalie has kind of kept us in this thing for the first 12 games. We’ve got to be better and give up less quality chances.”
The Rangers, who fell to 8-3-1 this season, have been winning largely because of Shesterkin’s stellar play.
“This certainly was not our best,″ Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said. “We left him out to dry. It’s not good enough.”
Shesterkin won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 2021-22 when he was 36-13-4 with a 2.07 goals against average. He won 37 games in 2022-23 and 36 last season as the Rangers finished with the NHL’s best record.
Shesterkin is in the final season of a four-year, $22.67 million contract and there has been talk of him wanting to be the highest-paid goaltender in NHL history.