NHL Quick Hits: Igor Shesterkin, Chris Tanev & Miro Heiskanen

In this edition of NHL Quick Hits, I’ll take a look at some of the news that’s happening around the entire league. I’ll even travel to Finland for some news.

Currently, there’s one second-round playoff series yet to complete. The Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers have each won three games and the teams go back into Carolina for a crucial Game 7 on Monday.

Because neither team seems to be able to win except at home, history would suggest the Hurricanes are the favorites. They are on home ice. However, the Rangers have a distinct advantage in goal. Frederik Andersen has been out for the entire postseason, and his replacement Antti Raanta has done a very good job. Still, he isn’t Andersen and last night he ran run into trouble and could not hold the Rangers off the score sheet.

Should that continue into Game 7, the Rangers should have a strong chance to come out of Carolina with the series win.

Related: Scribe Suggests NHL Rigging Games in Favor of McDavid and Oilers

Quick Hit #1: Igor Shesterkin Is Stopping Almost Everything

Rangers’ goalie Igor Shesterkin saved 37 of 39 shots as his Rangers made the most of their chances against the Hurricanes’ backup goalies. The Rangers won again at home — this time by a score of 5-2 last night. The series was on the line; but, in the end, the Rangers’ star goalie won out.

Carolina outshot the Rangers in the game by a margin of 39-25, but the Rangers made their shots count. Shesterkin was solid throughout the game to help the Rangers force a Game 7.

Quick Hit #2: Calgary Flames Chris Tanev Played with Dislocated Shoulder

If the Calgary Flames Chris Tanev seemed injured during the second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers, it’s because he was. Yesterday, Tanev reported that he had suffered a dislocated shoulder during the first round of the playoffs and had been sucking it up to play. He forced himself into the action but was suffering from his injury.

Because Tanev is a warrior, he was able to force his body to play during the last two games of the Oilers’ series, but he wasn’t himself. That became obvious to his fans because he wasn’t able to win puck battles around the net.

With the Flames now out of the Stanley Cup hunt, Tanev will undergo postseason surgery. Because his recovery is estimated to take up to four-to-six months, he might miss part of the start of the 2022-23 regular season.

Quick Hit #3: Dallas Stars’ Miro Heiskanen Leads Team Finland to IIHF Semi-Final Win

With the Dallas Stars postseason now closed, the team’s 22-year-old defenseman Miro Heiskanen went home to Finland. He made an immediate impression. He scored a goal and added two assists to help lead Team Finland to a 4-3 win over the Team USA in the IIHF World Championship semi-finals.

Obviously, Heiskanen wasted no time and played an outstanding game for his home-ice team. Team Finland now waits to see who will win the game between Team Canada and Team Czechia today for the Gold Medal. Other scores for Team Finland included Joel Armia (Montreal Canadiens), Sami Vatanen (who played several seasons with the Anaheim Ducks and New Jersey Devils, but who played in Switzerland last season), and Sakari Manninen (a 30-year-old Finn who’s been playing in the KHL).

Adam Gaudette (Ottawa Senators), Sean Farrell (a 20-year-old forward who plays at Harvard University), and Nate Schmidt (Winnipeg Jets) scored for Team USA. Team USA will play the loser of the Canada-Czechia contest for the Bronze.

Related: Oilers Get Contributions from Everyone in Flames’ Elimination