Rangers rally after poor start by Igor Shesterkin, but Penguins answer late to take Game 3

PITTSBURGH — Igor Shesterkin almost certainly will win the Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender in the NHL. He was a rock for the Rangers throughout the regular season and the first two games of the playoffs.

But Shesterkin struggled Saturday night in his first road playoff game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was pulled by coach Gerard Gallant after allowing four goals on 15 shots, and though the decision appeared to spark a rally in which the Rangers scored three times to tie it, they ultimately couldn’t ride that momentum to victory.

Danton Heinen’s goal at 11:02 of the third period turned out to be the game-winner in a 7-4 Penguins victory at PPG Paints Arena in Game 3 of the first-round playoff series. The victory gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Game 4 on Monday night.

Gallant said he pulled Shesterkin to change the momentum but also because he thought the goalie could use a break after having seen 124 shots in the first two games of the series, including his 79-save performance in the three-overtime loss in Game 1.

“It’s 4-1, you want to change momentum a little bit sometimes,’’ Gallant said. “And Igor has been outstanding. And really, you’re looking at it right now and he’s played 10 periods in the last, basically, 4 1⁄2 days, five days, whatever it is. So I thought it was a good time to you know, jump-start it. And fortunately for us, we battled back in the second and tied it up. And unfortunately, in the third, they got a goal.

“But I like the way our team didn’t quit,’’ he said. “I was proud of them for that. And we’ll be ready to go next game.’’

The Penguins opened the scoring early on a funky play. Brock McGinn’s shot from behind the goal line banked off Rangers defenseman Patrik Nemeth and in, even as the net was dislodged when Nemeth bumped into it. The play originally was ruled no goal, but after video review, the goal counted because it was Nemeth who dislodged the net. That put the Penguins up 1-0 at 1:57 of the first period.

Kaapo Kakko’s goal at 5:08 tied it at 1, but power-play goals by Jeff Carter and Evan Rodrigues — each of whom had two goals in the game — put the Penguins ahead 3-1.

At that point, the Penguins fans were having a good time with Shesterkin, chanting “Igor sucks’’ after the Carter goal. The Rodrigues goal in particular seemed a little troubling, as it was a shot from far out, through traffic. He appeared to get plenty of it with his catching glove, but the puck somehow trickled in.

After that, Shesterkin seemed rattled, failing to catch pucks cleanly and just generally flailing at shots and giving away uncharacteristic rebounds. Rod-rigues’ second goal, after a bad turnover in the defensive zone by Braden Schneider, made it 4-1 at 15:15. At that point, it seemed as if the period couldn’t end fast enough for Shesterkin and the Rangers.

What went wrong? “I don’t think we got to our game nearly quick enough,’’ said Chris Kreider, who paused a full 12 seconds before answering the question. “I don’t think we were playing together. Especially at this point in the season, effort is not something you question; it’s a matter of working smart, not just hard.’’

Alexandar Georgiev replaced Shesterkin to start the second period, and whether it was that move that turned things around or not, the Rangers seemed to take control of the game.

When Frank Vatrano scored at 6:51 to make it 4-2, the Rangers were outshooting Pittsburgh 7-0 in the period. When Artemi Panarin scored at 7:58 to make it 4-3, the shots were 10-0.

Then, when Schneider was sent off for hooking at 15:15, it was the Rangers who capitalized, with Andrew Copp scoring a shorthanded goal at 15:59 to tie the score at 4.

The Rangers had a couple of power plays in the third period as they tried to take the lead, but Penguins goalie Louis Domingue (32 saves) thwarted them.

“You’ve got to give Louis Domingue credit,’’ Gallant said. “When it was 4-4, he made two or three great saves on our power play, so that was a big part of the game.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.