Igor Shesterkin, other Russians star in NHL playoffs as nation wages war in Ukraine

A little more than a mile from the United Nations, where Russia's war in Ukraine is front and centre, the crowd at Madison Square Garden chanted goaltender Igor Shesterkin's name in the final moments of a playoff victory.

Similar scenes played out in the nation's capital during the first round when Washington Capitals fans serenaded longtime captain Alex Ovechkin with chants of, "Ovi! Ovi!" Ovechkin has long been linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the invasion.

The National Hockey League post-season has inadvertently become an intersection of sports and politics, with Russians starring on North American ice against the backdrop of the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II. While their countrymen in sports from soccer to tennis have been banned from competitions, Russians in the NHL have played on while keeping a low profile away from the rink.

"Everybody's doing the best they can under incredibly trying circumstances," commissioner Gary Bettman told The Associated Press during a recent interview. "Our players play for their NHL teams, no matter where they're from. At this particular point in time, the Russian players are in an impossible situation."

A total of 56 Russians skated in the NHL during the regular season, roughly five per cent of the total number of players, with 29 taking part in the playoffs, just under eight per cent. Some are the best the game has to offer, from Shesterkin backstopping the New York Rangers deep into the second round to Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy pushing the Lightning to their fourth Eastern Conference final in five years in a bid for a third consecutive Stanley Cup championship.

The NHL never seriously considered a ban like