The New York Rangers extended their ongoing winning streak to three games with a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The result also marked the third consecutive home win in regulation for a Rangers team that must find solace amid a season that will end with New York missing the playoffs for the second year.
Conor Sheary and J.T. Miller scored in the first period to give the Rangers an early lead, while Jaroslav Chmelar and Mika Zibanejad added goals later in the game.
Netminder Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves to seal the win, but it was what he did outside of the crease that grabbed all the headlines during Tuesday's matchup.
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Midway through the third period, the game shifted its attention to a rare goalie fight featuring Shesterkin and fellow shot-stopper Jacob Markstrom of the Devils.
Markstrom skated the length of the ice to drop the gloves and challenge Shesterkin, and the two exchanged punches before the Rangers' goalie wrestled his counterpart to the ice.
The moment energized the crowd at Madison Square Garden, with fans chanting Shesterkin’s name following the fight as play resumed, and both players received five-minute fighting majors and penalties for leaving their creases.
Speaking after the game, Shesterkin could only joke about the moment and the reason he came out on top.
“I’d like to thank my boxing coach,” Shesterkin said.
Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan, meanwhile, sounded shocked at Shesterkin's boxing chops.
“It was a great fight,” Sullivan said. “I didn’t know Shesty had that in him.”
New York will host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. ET and the Rangers trailing the Eastern Conference with a 31-35-9 record and 71 points in 75 games.
