Penguins chase Igor Shesterkin again, topple Rangers for 3-1 lead

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Igor Shesterkin toyed with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the regular season. The New York Rangers' goaltender even waved Sidney Crosby and company off the ice following a shutout victory in early April.

Fast forward a month and Shesterkin's swagger is suddenly gone. So, seemingly, is the Vezina Trophy favorite's confidence. Getting pulled twice in three days while the opposing crowd chants your name as puck after puck makes its way behind you into the net will do that.

And now the only thing Shesterkin and the Rangers are threatening to wave goodbye to is their once-promising season.

Crosby had a goal and three assists to become just the sixth player in NHL history to reach 200 career playoff points and the Penguins chased Shesterkin off the PPG Paints Arena ice once again in a dominant 7-2 victory on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Pittsburgh Penguins' Jeff Carter (77) celebrates his second goal, an empty-net goal during the third period, with Sidney Crosby in Game 3 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers in Pittsburgh, Saturday, May 7, 2022.  (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

The Penguins, limited to just four goals in four games by Shesterkin in the regular season, can close out the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

"I think we know we have a lot of work left," Crosby said. "When you’re in a game like this, you know you’re going to see the other team’s best the next time."

Maybe, though it wouldn't take much for New York to improve over an effort in which they let the Penguins pump