NEW YORK —
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In a mostly dismal home season for the Rangers — with just 12 wins in 37 games at Madison Square Garden — the spirited fisticuffs between goalies brought some of the loudest cheers of the year from the home crowd.
“We needed that,” Rangers captain J.T. Miller said. “There hasn’t been, unfortunately, a lot to cheer about early this year. To have a moment like that, it’s really special.”
Markstrom left his crease and skated the length of the ice where he and Shesterkin brought the crowd to its feet with the rare goaltender-versus-goaltender battle.
“It shows his character, shows he’s a competitor,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said of Markstrom’s willingness to fight. “It’s huge for us. … I know Markie is an emotional guy. That’s what you want to see in your team.”
Shesterkin punctuated the fight by wrestling Markstrom to the ice, bringing even louder roars from the crowd.
“It was a great fight. I didn’t know Shesty had that in him,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said.
Rangers fans continued to chant “Igor, Igor,” in support of their combative goaltender as play resumed, and the Rangers went on to win their third straight home game in decisive fashion.
Shesterkin and Markstrom each received five minutes for fighting and two minutes for leaving their creases.
“I felt like I needed to do something,” Markstrom said about entering the fracas at the other end of the rink. “It’s adrenaline. You just go there and swing for the fences.”
Miller lauded his team’s star Russian netminder, who has 186 victories in seven seasons with the Rangers — and now one prolonged fight — on his résumé.
“It’s just so rare, unexpected,” Miller said. “That was just old-school. … I think it was great for our team to see that. To see what a goalie can do — obviously goalies aren’t fighting that often — to see him have our back and stick up for himself obviously sends a message that he’s such a leader for us.”
