Late in a game against the Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin threw wild punches at an opponent after he was run into in the heat of play.
Senators star Brady Tkachuk went across Shesterkin’s crease and appeared to make contact with the goalie – leading to a swarm of Rangers players surrounding him.
As the scrum made its way out of the crease to behind the net, Shesterkin appeared to roll on the ice in pain.
The Russian netminder was hunched over on the ice – appearing to have suffered an injury to either his groin or his knee.
Shesterkin eventually made his way to his feet before seeing Tkachuk with his helmet off and finding his second wind – dashing towards the Senators player.
The goalie began throwing wild punches with his glove and his blocker as Tkachuk appeared to take on three Rangers players at once – including defenseman Braden Schneider and forward Matt Rempe.
A scrum breaks out between the Senators and Rangers behind the net of Igor Shesterkin
Shesterkin (31) was injured, but got up, left his crease, and went after Brady Tkachuk (7)
Shesterkin posted a shutout on the night as the Rangers won the game 5-0 over Ottawa
Rempe has developed a reputation for being one of the youngest and most willing fighters in the league.
Shesterkin continued to try and get at Tkachuk, but Canadian referee Cody Beach managed to separate him.
When asked what he was thinking when he saw Shesterkin go after Tkachuk, Rempe told reporters he was, ‘A little nervous because I don’t want anything to happen to him but, I love it just ’cause he’s a competitor. Just wanna make sure I get in there and nothing happens, but it was awesome. Igor’s the man.’
In total, seven penalties were called as a result of the scrum – with Shesterkin getting hit with a two-minute penalty for leaving his crease.
Rempe and Tkachuk each served two separate roughing penalties for their actions against each other. Tkachuk also served a two minute goaltender interference penalty.
Finally, Ottawa’s Shane Pinto served a two minute penalty for roughing against Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren.
New York won the game 5-0, with Shesterkin posting a shutout. Goals were scored by Alexis Lafreniere, Arthur Kaliyev (his first since joining the team), Rempe, Artemi Panarin, and Will Cuylle.
The Rangers have been having a rough season so far. After making the Eastern Conference Finals last season, and the team expected to compete again this season, they now sit fifth in the Metropolitan Division and are two points out of a Wild Card spot.
