The Daily Faceoff Show: Is Igor Shesterkin the Vezina front runner?

Is there a goalie that’s been hotter this season than New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin?

He’s played in 32 games this year posting an impressive 24-5-3 record, a league-leading .939 save percentage and a 2.01 goals-against average. His most impressive stat, however, is that Shesterkin has saved 30.7 goals above average this season.

While he’s played the 17th most minutes of any goaltender this season, he has without a doubt made the most of his time in the crease.

But Sunday night, Shesterkin tried to create some offence. With the Ottawa Senators net empty, Shesterkin rifled a puck down the ice narrowly missing a goal. That’s not the only electric play of his this week, either.

In overtime against the Detroit Red Wings earlier in the week, Shesterkin made a save and promptly dropped the puck in front of him firing a stretch pass on a rope to Rangers forward Artemi Panarin.

On Monday’s edition of The Daily Faceoff Show, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk dove into his season.

Seravalli: “I read about Shesterkin this week in the New York Post from the great Larry Brooks and he said ‘it’s amazing to think about on a team with Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider, one of the league’s leaders in goals, that their most exciting player may be in net.’ It seems like he does something every night that has you on the edge of your seat. Whether it’s a save, whether it’s a pass like that, whether it’s an attempt at a goal.

I’ve got a bold prediction: Igor Shesterkin, with as well as the Rangers have played, as many leads as they have, I think he gets a goalie goal before the end of the season.”

Yaremchuk: “Even I didn’t see this coming from him. I think he’s number one in the Vezina race right now.”

Seravalli: “Hard not to think he is given the stats, given where the Rangers are in the standings, given the excitement he brings that we just showed you. To me, he’s cemented himself at the very least in the conversation for the Vezina, if not the outright front runner at this point with how well he’s played.”

You can listen to the full episode here.