The thing about all goalie goals is that they rock. There are roughly 175 feet and six prideful skaters between the promised land and any netminder bold enough to even attempt to reach it. There have been but 21 goalie goals, scored by 18 different goalies, in the entire history of the NHL. The thing about Thursday night's goalie goal, specifically, is that no goalie since Ron Hextall has ever so clearly wanted it more than Igor Shesterkin.
He is also exceedingly deserving. He is in that classic New York Ranger situation of being one of the league's elite stoppers, trapped on a team that does not seem capable of building a commensurate roster around him. Surely he thinks about how Henrik Lundqvist retired without a Cup. Surely he should get a little treat from time to time, something just for Igor. Often—notably often—that treat-seeking looks like firing a puck down the ice at an empty net.
He does it so often that home crowds start anticipating the attempt as soon as the opposing goalie heads to the bench. He does it so often that Kenny Albert predicted it 10 minutes before it happened last night. And he has come so close. “I feel like probably a dozen times I’ve been on the bench thinking ‘OK this one goes in,’ and he barely misses,” said Mika Zibanejad. Shesterkin has said he scored one in juniors and has been chasing that high ever since. But he never found paydirt until last night.
Macklin Celebrini doesn't have a goal this year. Tage Thompson? Nary a goal in sight. Jason Robertson? Hasn't even played a game, the layabout, and so zero goals. But do you know who does have a goal? Igor Shesterkin has a goal, after scoring to put a bow on the Rangers' 5-1 win over Tampa. Tied for 15th in the league in goals! Pretty good! Oh, and he saved 24 of 25 shots on the night.
Shesterkin didn't get to see his goal; he was screened by skaters, he said, but he heard the crowd roar and "then everyone started jumping on me." He made sure after the game to poke fun at his close friend, Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin, who was credited with a goalie goal a couple years back that was more of the own-goal variety. "This one counts," Shesterkin insisted. It was the first goalie goal in Rangers franchise history, and as a fan who once walked out of a Rangers win feeling disappointed because Igor had missed a shot attempt by only a few feet, I've been waiting for it for a long time. Not as long as the guy still dwelling on the time Eddie Giacomin hit a post, but still pretty long.
It was inspiring to the masked fraternity. In Nashville, a ref skated over to Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt to ask if he knew about Shesterkin's goal. "No, I had no idea. Obviously I was playing the game," Wallstedt told him. And then he attempted a shot of his own.
Anyway, go read this link. It's a breezy but informational history of the goalie goal in the NHL, and it's only two years out of date. I worked really hard on it so that I wouldn't have to type all that stuff again when I needed to provide historical context. It's more interesting than this blog.
Shesterkin's goal capped off a night of unexpectedly good vibes at New York's home opener. They've been pretty putrid at home in recent times, and also on the road, but it was nice for a day, in the first major event in that building since OG Anunoby's tip-in, and with Mike Brown in attendance, for the Rangers to hear cheers instead of boos. "They deserve better," captain J.T. Miller said of the fans, and whether or not the Rangers are capable of providing that for them this year—probably not—they got to see a little magic.
That's not enough for Shesterkin, though. "I will keep trying to score," he vowed.
