PHILADELPHIA — Igor Shesterkin drew his first start of the preseason Saturday night and went the distance instead of splitting goaltending duties like the Rangers had done in their first two exhibitions.
The rookie’s teammates made sure he saw plenty of action.
Facing a Flyers lineup that was much closer to full strength than the Rangers’, Shesterkin was peppered with 40 shots on net and stopped 36 of them in a 4-1 loss at Wells Fargo Center.
“Our goalie was outstanding, that’s for sure,” said coach David Quinn, who thought his team was fatigued both mentally and physically ahead of its first real day off of camp Sunday.
The 23-year-old Shesterkin stopped 31 of 33 shots at even strength, including 20 of 21 in the second period. He was hung out to dry twice late in the second period on a pair of breakaways, but stopped both.
The Rangers had to kill off four penalties, allowing the Flyers to score on Shesterkin twice on the power play. But the final score was not indicative of how Quinn thought Shesterkin played in just his second taste of the NHL since coming over from the KHL as he battles for a spot behind Henrik Lundqvist.
“I loved how he competed, I loved how he squared to the puck. He battled,” Quinn said. “You don’t see a lot of net. I just really liked his game.”
The Rangers felt Artemi Panarin’s mild groin strain was not too serious and he confirmed that notion Saturday when he returned to practice for the first time since sustaining the injury in the second period of Wednesday’s preseason opener.
“That’s nice to see him, but it wasn’t a surprise,” Quinn said. “We knew it was very minor and he was gonna be healthy to go soon.”
The Rangers made four more cuts to their training camp roster, which is down to 41, assigning Gabriel Fontaine, Mason Geertsen, Joey Keane and Patrick Newell to AHL Hartford. Keane recorded an assist in Friday’s loss to the Devils, but was also called for three penalties.
Second-round pick Matthew Robertson was in the lineup Saturday for his preseason debut after tweaking his groin in the Traverse City prospects tournament. The 18-year-old defenseman lined up on the left with Ryan Lindgren on his right.
Nick Jones made sure the Rangers didn’t get shut out when he beat J-F Berube on a wrister with 4:08 left in the game. … For the second time in three games, veteran winger Micheal Haley dropped the gloves for a fight. … Defenseman Yegor Rykov (ankle) practiced Saturday morning for the first time since playing in Traverse City.