Rangers need the best version of Igor Shesterkin with season at critical juncture

When the Rangers return to action Saturday in Buffalo following the 4 Nations break, expect Igor Shesterkin to be back — provided Friday’s practice goes well — having recovered from the upper-body injury he suffered Feb.7 in a loss to Pittsburgh. And while that’s positive news for the Rangers, who had said the goalie would be sidelined one to two weeks after seemingly suffering the injury near his lower arm in a scrum in front of the goalmouth, the real question is, what version of Shesterkin will they see? He was excellent for much of the first month of the regular season and again for a two-week period in mid-January. But he also has had a pair of ugly stretches, including most of November and December and again in his final five matches before the break. It’s left the 29-year-old with some pretty mediocre results that don’t compare well to a year ago.

He’s 33rd in the league with a 2.87 goals-against average and tied for 19th with a .906 save percentage after finishing 11th (2.58 GAA) and tied for 10th (.913) in those categories last season. All that is far from what the Rangers expected when they signed Shesterkin to an eight-year, $92 million deal ($11.5M a year) that kicks in next year. Asked about the season so far following practice in Tarrytown on Thursday — Shesterkin’s first full practice since the injury — the goalie said, “Not good so far.” He was speaking as much for himself as for the rest of the team, which has gone from winning the Presidents’ Trophy last year for finishing the regular season with the most points in the league to needing to find a way over their final 27 games just to get back to the postseason. They sit three points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with three teams to pass. “We’re battling for a playoff spot [and] working hard,’’ Shesterkin said.“Last season, we were in a better spot than this year.” But he also accurately noted, “Everything is in our han...