Igor Shesterkin charges into middle of wild Rangers-Sentors skirmish after crease collision

Igor Shesterkin got involved in a third-period melee after being knocked into during a battle for the puck near his net. 

After the Rangers goaltender shook off a bit of pain, he got up and charged toward Senators forward Brady Tkachuk, who had been tangled up with Rangers defender Braden Schneider. 

The group of Rangers and Senators who were pushing and shoving behind the net quickly attempted to intervene.

Eventually, when the pile cleared, the Rangers netminder still had a grasp of Tkachuk and had his goalie glove over the Sens’ star’s head. 

A ref was able to eventually push Shesterkin away from the scene, but somehow Tkachuk then got entangled with Blueshirts tough guy Matt Rempe, forcing the linesman to desperately fight to keep the two separated. 

The scene quickly died down as the officials got control of the situation. 

The Rangers defeated the Senators 5-0 when all was said and done with goals coming from Rempe, Alexis Lafreniere, Arthur Kaliyev, Artemi Panarin and Will Cuylle. 

After the game, Rempe admitted he was “a little nervous” seeing Shesterkin going after Tkachuk like that.

“I don’t want anything to happen to him, but I love it just cause he’s a competitor and I just want to make sure get in there and nothing happens,” Rempe said. “But Igor is the man.”

The win on Tuesday night was a big one, as the Rangers continue to try and pull themselves back into playoff position. 

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The Blueshirts (23-20-4) are just two points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, and Tuesday’s tilt at Madison Square Garden had extra importance with the Senators currently occupying the first wild-card spot in the conference. 

Shesterkin made 20 saves against Ottawa and recorded his second consecutive shutout.