Shesterkin adds assist as Rangers beat Mammoth 4-2

Igor Shesterkin contributed at both ends of the ice Sunday, Oct. 4. He stopped 28 shots and assisted on the final goal of the Rangers’ 4-2 home victory over the Utah Mammoth.

Shesterkin made a long pass to Will Cuylle before Eeli Tolvanen scored the empty-netter with 1:15 left. Tolvanen has now scored in three straight games. Three nights earlier, Shesterkin had become the first Rangers goaltender to score a goal.

Gabe Perreault broke a 1-1 tie 3:15 into the third period. Alexis Lafrenière's shot was stopped by a Karel Vejmelka pad save, but the rebound stayed loose, and Perreault sent it into the open net from just inside the left circle. J.T. Miller made it 3-1 with 7:13 left when he deflected a Vladislav Gavrikov shot past Vejmelka. Gavrikov had scored late in the first period on a shot from the point.

Nick Schmaltz tied it for Utah in the second, backhanding in a rebound off a Clayton Keller shot. Andrew Peeke cut the deficit to one with 5:03 remaining, but the Mammoth could not get the equalizer. The Mammoth were looking for a 3-0-0 start for the second time in their three seasons in Utah. Vejmelka stopped 18 shots, including two breakaways by Lafrenière.

Vincent Trocheck got a video tribute and an ovation from the crowd during a first-period break. Utah acquired him from the Rangers in July, after he put up 89 goals and 253 points in 313 games in New York over the previous four seasons.

The Rangers were thin up front for most of the night. Joe Veleno exited 9:21 into the first period with a lower-body injury, when his leg caught up with Keller's along the boards by the New York bench. The Rangers finished with 11 forwards.