CALGARY, Alberta — After allowing a total of 11 goals in consecutive games against the two worst teams in the league, Igor Shesterkin wanted to talk.
The Rangers goaltender lingered in the locker room after Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Flames while grim-faced teammates gathered their things and left.
But Shesterkin, put in difficult situations on many of those goals, wasn’t looking to blame anyone but himself.
“I need to do my job,’’ Shesterkin told Newsday. “I need to give my team a chance to win, so I need to make a stronger start, probably. We did a lot of good things for the game, but sometimes puck luck — it’s not going our way right now. But all we need is just work hard. Think about next game, and [eventually the result] will flip around.’’
Shesterkin’s goals-against average has jumped to 2.25 and his save percentage is down to .916 after the last two games. Before Thursday’s 6-5 overtime loss to San Jose, his goals-against was 1.17 and his save percentage was .957.
But he wouldn’t blame a suddenly poor defense for his troubles.
“I cannot say that,’’ he said. “I think we still play pretty good defensively, but like I said, it’s puck luck, where you cannot score sometimes. You hit the post, skates, the goalie’s stick and all that. And you lose some confidence and you try to overplay sometimes — you try to do something more than you usually do to try to get yourself some confidence again. But sometimes it works, sometimes not. But I think, still, we play pretty good defensively.’’
His captain, J.T. Miller, didn’t agree.
“I mean, we have to strap our heads on a little on defense,’’ Miller said Sunday night. “We protect the middle of the ice pretty well so far this season . . . We gave them the guts of the ice a couple times today. We’ve just got to be more physical in our own end . . . We’ve been doing a good job of protecting the middle. [On a] couple goals today, obviously, we didn’t.’’
Shesterkin was asked directly if he blamed himself for any of the five goals he allowed Sunday. He said he didn’t like the first goal by the Flames’ Nazem Kadri.
“I think I have to stop that shot and [the] third one [by Yegor Sharangovich],’’ he said.
Sharangovich’s goal, which made it 3-1, came on a two-on-two break. Connor Zary flew up the right wing, got behind defenseman Braden Schneider and dropped a pass to a wide-open Sharangovich in the low slot. Shesterkin got a glove on the 17-foot shot, but the puck trickled in.
Kadri had a clean shot from the upper part of the right circle and Morgan Frost screened Shesterkin before moving out of the way at the last second. The puck beat Shesterkin over the glove.
On the second goal, by Kevin Bahl, Shesterkin was screened by teammate Alexis Lafreniere and never appeared to see the shot.
“Yeah, but still, if it’s a screen, I have to try to find the puck. It’s my job,” Shesterkin said. “The fellas try to do their jobs, they try to block shots . . . They do a lot of good things. But I need to track the puck better.”
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
