Igor Shesterkin was pulled from a game for the first time this season during the Rangers' blowout loss to the Blues on Thursday night, but head coach Gerard Gallant clearly didn't hold his dark horse Hart Trophy candidate responsible.
Gallant instead held nothing back when criticizing his team's performance in front of his star goalie.
"How many times can he do it? He had no chance in the first goal, and a couple tap-ins, no chance at those," Gallant said after the Blueshirts' 6-2 loss. "You get frustrated and you hope you wake your guys up. It didn't really. They should be embarrassed a little bit. The way this guy plays for them all year, and then they come out and play like that after a game in Minnesota that we weren't too good in."
Gallant was clearly unhappy with the team's support of Shesterkin, who has played a massive role in New York's success this season, and while Gallant's team has been noticeably tougher and more competitive than last year's group, he didn't see that same intensity on Thursday.
"Just looked soft," Gallant said. "We looked soft."
Gallant is ready to move on from Thursday's embarrassment, but admitted that it was hard to coach from behind the bench while watching what unfolded in St. Louis, one of his team's worst performances of the year.
"Wasn't too positive. I sort of shut my mouth and let them play," Gallant said. "There's not many good things you can say…you get frustrated, and you have to move on. That's all you can do, but it was definitely frustrating."
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