New York Rangers coach Gerard Gallant, looking to 'spark your team with a goalie change,' pulls Igor Shesterkin in Game 3 loss

New York Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said pulling star goaltender Igor Shesterkin after the first period in Game 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday night was meant to spark the team and give the netminder some rest.

The Rangers would go on to lose that game in Pittsburgh 7-4, and now trail the Penguins 2-1 in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Gallant decided to pull Shesterkin after the first period, with the Rangers down 4-1 in Pittsburgh, with their star goalie having stopped 11 of 15 shots.

«Two of them were lucky bounces. It's 4-1 and you want to change momentum. Igor has been outstanding — and really, if you look at it right now, he's played 10 periods, more or less, in basically four-and-a-half, five days. I thought it was a good time to jump start it,» the coach said.

The Rangers responded with three goals in the second period to tie the game, but eventually fell to the Penguins 7-4 as Pittsburgh took a 2-1 series lead.

«It was 4-1. It was totally tilted. Sometimes you spark your team with a goalie change. Igor was our MVP all season. I thought we'd give him a little rest tonight and hopefully spark our team. And it worked,» Gallant said. Backup Alexandar Georgiev made 19 saves in relief but gave up a stoppable goal to Penguins forward Danton Heinen at 11:02 of the third period to give Pittsburgh a lead it would not relinquish.

But Gallant and the Rangers players said the key to Game 3 wasn't how they finished but how they started.

«I don't think we're playing together. Especially at this point in the season, it's not something you question. It's a matter of working smart, not just hard,» Rangers forward Chris Kreider said. «It's a good learning experience for our group. First round period for