Igor Shesterkin’s self-criticism represents Rangers’ unsatisfied mindset
NY Post
After the Rangers closed out the Capitals with a win in Game 4 on Sunday night in Washington, Igor Shesterkin came out to speak to reporters, dressed to board the team bus, having already washed the first-round series off him.
The Blueshirts netminder was asked about his play right off the bat, and his response echoed the same sentiment heard around the visiting locker room as his teammates reflected on Round 1.
Instead of an evaluation of the team as a whole, however, Shesterkin’s was directed inward.
“I could play better,” he said stoically, “but what’s important [is] we won tonight and we won the series.”
That was the consensus among the players, who wouldn’t diminish the significance of completing a sweep but also recognized they didn’t have to be at their best to make it happen.
The Capitals made it into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth and that was apparent against the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference that qualified in March, considering the fact that the Rangers trailed for only 3:17 through the four-game series.
A win like Saturday night’s in Columbus should’ve sent the Rangers into the 4 Nations break on a high note, but this season has been anything but exuberant.
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