Shesterkin’s goal caps Rangers 5-1 win over Lightning in home opener

October 2, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

Igor Shesterkin wrapped up the New York Rangers’ 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in their home opener on Thursday night by realizing a career dream — scoring his first NHL goal.

Shesterkin was brilliant in a 24-save effort. But he lit up Madison Square Garden with 2:34 remaining by picking up a dump-in just in front of the crease and firing away. With the sellout crowd roaring, the puck slid down the ice before crossing the goal line just inside the left post.

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The fans, who had been cheering “Igor’s better” earlier in the third period when it was apparent that Shesterkin would best longtime Russian rival Andrei Vasilevskiy, went bonkers as Shesterkin’s teammates mobbed him.

It was the first goalie goal in Rangers history and the 21st scored by an NHL goaltender (including playoffs). Shesterkin is the first goalie to score since March 1, 2025, when his friend and rival Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders did it against the Nashville Predators.

Before that, two of the Rangers’ newcomers gave the sellout crowd plenty to cheer about in the Blueshirts’ 100th home opener.

Pavel Dorofeyev had a goal and an assist, and Eeli Tolvanen also scored his first goal with the Rangers. Dorofeyev, their biggest offseason addition, showed why he scored 72 goals the previous two seasons for the Vegas Golden Knights, firing home the Rangers’ second goal of the first period. Toivanen, a late free-agent signing, added his first goal early in the second period to make it 3-0.

Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault also scored for the Rangers, who bounced back after being blanked 3-0 by the Boston Bruins two nights earlier in their 2026-27 season opener. Adam Fox contributed two assists.

Shesterkin improved to 9-4-1 in his career against the Lightning. The Rangers continued their success against Vasilevskiy; the reigning Vezina Trophy winner. He made 20 saves and fell to 7-10-2 lifetime against New York.

Rangers defeat Lightning 5-1 in home opener

Maybe it was all the pregame hoopla — Wayne Gretzky was among those on hand — but the Rangers came out much more energized than they were two nights earlier in Boston. They had three shots on goal in the first 90 seconds, continued to carry the play and got on the scoreboard just 5:34 into the game.

With Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser off for holding, the Rangers took advantage of Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli also playing without a stick. Fox did what he does best — find the open man. In this case, it was Dorofeyev, who rocketed a shot off the crossbar. The puck caromed into the left circle, where Zibanejad quickly ripped it into a half-empty net before Vasilevskiy could get across.

It was Zibanejad’s 11th goal in 17 career games against the future Hall of Famer and put the Rangers ahead for the first time this season.

Dorofeyev made it 2-0 at 10:51 with his first goal awith the Rangers. Ex-Lightning forward Oliver Bjorkstrand took the puck away from defenseman John Carlson near the red line, raced in and slid a pass to Dorofeyev, who zipped it past a defenseless Vasilevskiy.

NEW YORK, MEET PAVEL SCORE-OFEYEV 🚨 pic.twitter.com/L6jijF6Z9P
— NHL (@NHL) October 1, 2026

The Bolts began to get pucks to the net and dominate play after that, but Shesterkin came up big on Jake Guentzel with less than five minutes left in the period. Shesterkin also got plenty of help from his teammates, who blocked nine shots and pressured the Lightning into missing eight others. In all, Tampa Bay had 26 attempts to 13 for the Rangers and a 6-2 edge in high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick — but the home side skated off with a two-goal lead after 20 minutes.

The teams exchanged fluke goals in the first eight minutes of the second period.

Tolvanen’s pass from the right side along the goal line hit Lightning defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous as he tried to fend off a charging Will Cuylle and went past Vasilevskiy at 1:40 to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead.

FOXY WITH THE SHOT AND GABE DEFLECTS IT HOME 🤝 pic.twitter.com/VouUcLMjbz
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 2, 2026

Tampa Bay cut the margin to 3-1 at 7:59 when Kucherov picked up the carom of Ilya Mikheyev’s miss off the end boards and tried to throw a pass through the crease as Shesterkin went left to right. Instead, the puck hit Rangers center Noah Laba and deflected into the net.

But the Rangers proceeded to pick up their play, forcing Vasilevskiy to make a handful of excellent stops — including one on a breakaway backhander by Alexis Lafreniere. They also killed off a hooking penalty to J.T. Miller without difficulty.

The Rangers then took advantage of a defensive breakdown by the Bolts to make it 4-1 at 16:01. Fox controlled the puck at the right point, looked around and saw Perreault all alone in the slot. His shot-pass was perfect, and the second-year forward deflected the puck past Vasilevskiy.

GREAT redirection by Gabe Perreault here for the goal 😯🚨 pic.twitter.com/8REbIIjokI
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 2, 2026

The third period belonged to Shesterkin and the Rangers’ penalty-killers, who were 4-for-4 in the final 20 minutes against one of the League’s top power plays and held the Lightning scoreless in seven power plays, successfully killing 12:54 while Tampa Bay had the extra man.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper pulled Vasilevskiy during parts of the third-period power plays, then lifted him for good with 4:50 remaining. The Lightning didn’t generate a lot of pressure before Shesterkin completed one of the most memorable home openers in Rangers history.

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