How did Don Henley put it?

“In a New York minute

Everything can change

In a New York minute

Things can get pretty strange”

OK. Maybe not a minute. But that was the experience in New York City over less than 48 hours for goaltender Louis Domingue and the rest of his Penguins teammates.

During a 5-2 New York Rangers win over the Penguins on Thursday night in Game 2 of their opening-round playoff series, Domingue went from cult-hero status to simply the second-best goalie on the ice. And the Penguins went from being an upset special to having upset stomachs.

Maybe the spicy pork and broccoli were a little undercooked this time. Before Game 3, the Pens should try to find the recipe of whatever New York goalie Igor Shesterkin has been eating.

Shesterkin’s play was my biggest takeaway from Thursday night’s game. Frankly, both games of this series.

The notion that the Penguins have “figured out” Shesterkin is comical. That was a building narrative because the Pens won 4-3 in triple overtime of Game 1. Wow. Four whole goals in more than 100 minutes of hockey. Yeah. The guy is obviously a sieve.

I saw a little of that on Twitter after Sidney Crosby bulled his way into a goal to pull his team within 3-2 in the second period.

But, c’mon. Shesterkin made 79 saves in Game 1. Facing a lesser goalie, I bet the Penguins win that one long before it got to a sixth period Tuesday night. Then Shesterkin stopped 39 of 41 pucks in Game 2.

So, in two games, Shesterkin has stopped 118 of 124 shots for a .952 save percentage.

If that’s what it looks like when the Penguins have “figured him out,” what does it look like when he’s got them confused?

“We had some really good chances early in the third and didn’t convert. And they got a bounce. That’s what it came down to,” Crosby said.

According to the Rangers media relations staff, the 118 saves are “the second most combined saves by a single goaltender in consecutive team playoff games in NHL history.”

Igor Shesterkin has made 118 saves over the past two games, tied for the second most combined saves by a single goaltender in consecutive team playoff games in NHL history. #NYR pic.twitter.com/DQfEmMi6ft

— NYR Stats & Info (@NYRStatsInfo) May 6, 2022

How many dazzlers did he turn in during Game 2 alone?

Shesterkin’s follow-up save on Crosby’s attempt to bang home a breakaway miss from Bryan Rust was brilliant. He pulled off a gem, stopping Evgeni Malkin in the opening minute of the third period. There was a great pad stop on a Crosby stuff attempt in the third period with about 16 minutes left.

Then with a little over three minutes remaining, Crosby somehow feathered a shot through traffic, and the only thing more eye-popping than getting the shot on net was how Shesterkin was able to slide over and get his left pad on it to keep the puck out of the goal.

Meanwhile, Domingue was decent. The fifth goal allowed to Frank Vatrano wasn’t great. But neither was the attempted check by Mike Matheson that Vatrano slipped to get into scoring position.

Aside from that, though, one of the goals by the Rangers was an own-goal off of Matheson’s skate. Another was a high slot redirection from Chris Kreider. New York also got a power-play deflection from Ryan Strome.

PERFECTION REDIRECTION, c/o Chris Kreider. pic.twitter.com/Y5XwxQHNhc

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 6, 2022

????️IT'S A POWER PLAY GOAL pic.twitter.com/5qWVvH6ren

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 6, 2022

“I thought Louis was solid,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought he made some big saves. He has given us a chance. He is competing in there.”

Sure. Domingue was fine. Unfortunately, as he described his overtime intermission pork dinner Tuesday night, just “not the best.”

Shesterkin was the best. He has been all year. And if the Penguins really want to pull off an upset in this series, they must figure him out for real. Not just for exuberant Penguins fans at midnight on social media after a triple-overtime win.

I know a lot of those same fans are arguing that the team coming back from Manhattan with a split was a big win.

Eh, I’d call it essential. If they didn’t, they’d be dead on arrival Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.

I do appreciate the reminder I received a few times over on Twitter that the Pens can still lose three games and win a best of seven. Indeed. I grasp the concept.

Similarly, though, the Rangers can still win in six and lose two. Which is how I expected this series to go all along.

Credit the Penguins for getting so many shots on Shesterkin. They didn’t do enough of that in the regular-season games between the clubs, totaling only 101 attempts on goal in four contests.

Now they just have to finish off a few more. Or maybe a lot more. And quickly. Because Domingue may run out of lucky spicy pork before Casey DeSmith or Tristan Jarry get healthy in the other net.

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