NEW YORK — Igor Shesterkin is doing all he can to help the New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils.
In Thursday's Game 5 loss, he made 39 saves on 42 shots, came way out of his net to play the puck and help out his defensemen, and even fired a shot on net.
He even skated over to the bench to tell his teammates to wake up after a save on Timo Meier.
Unfortunately, none of it was enough, as the Rangers were shut out by Akira Schmid and the Devils are are now down 3-2 in their first-round playoff series.
The Rangers seemed well on their way to a series win after winning Games 1 and 2 in New Jersey by a combined score of 10-2.
Since then, though, they've scored two total goals, and the lack of effort and heart the Blueshirts are showing right now is "dumbfounding" according to Locked on Rangers host Jon Chik.
Some Rangers have been productive offensively, namely Chris Kreider (five goals, one assist), Patrick Kane (one goal, five assists), and Adam Fox (six assists).
Others, not so much. Case in point, Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin have yet to find the back of the net, while first overall pick Alex Lafreniere has zero points to date.
Sure, Schmid has been great and the Devils have been playing incredible team defense in front of him, but Shesterkin's frustrations are understandable.
He has a save percentage of .938, level with the league-high mark posted by Linus Ullmark of the Boston Bruins, the likely Vezina Trophy winner. Schmid's been even better, though, stopping 97.6 percent of all the shots he's faced since coming in for Vitek Vanecek.
The Rangers are also making it easy on him, averaging 27 shots per game, fewest of all playoff teams.
Chik adds the Rangers better show up for Game 6, or heads could roll in the offseason.