Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic
BUFFALO — MSG Networks and Optimum may have come to an agreement just in time to patch Saturday’s Rangers game back into homes, but fans probably wished they hadn’t.
For it was a disastrous scene for the Blueshirts at Keybank Center, where they resumed the regular season after the 4 Nations break in the most discouraging of ways, getting clobbered in the first period on the way to an embarrassing 8-2 loss to the lowly Sabres, the fourth-worst team in the NHL.
This one was over after the first 20 minutes, the final 40 only played as a formality.
Igor Shesterkin, who suffered an upper-body injury just before the break, was pulled just 18:21 into the game after the star Russian goalie gave up five goals on 16 shots.
It hardly mattered that Jonathan Quick made 14 saves in relief.
Two of the five goals Shesterkin gave up were tipped in through traffic, but the 29-year-old wasn’t exactly tracking the puck very well in the time that he played. Shesterkin had to be eased back into practice this past week after recovering from the unidentified injury that he took into the break.
Shesterkin hasn’t consistently performed at best-goalie-in-the-world standards since signing an eight-year, $92 million extension that will make him the highest-paid goalie in the league when it kicks in next season.
In his five appearances before the break, Shesterkin went 1-4-0 with a 3.84 goals-against average and .835 save percentage.
Factoring in Saturday’s game, Shesterkin’s save percentage is at roughly .817 over his last six games.
Not only was this the first time Shesterkin gave up five goals in the first period, but it was also the fastest he’s been pulled in his six-year NHL career, per Sportsnet.
The Rangers in front of him Saturday night, however, did not do him any favors.
K’Andre Miller’s defensive-zone turnover while trying to clear the puck had the Blueshirts trailing early, when Jack Quinn carried the puck back in and scored just 1:46 into the game.
It prompted head coach Peter Laviolette to put his lines in a bit of a blender right away.
Rasmus Dahlin later doubled the Sabres lead after getting a stick on Jordan Greenway’s shot.
The Sabres had a 3-0 lead by the 15:32 mark of the third period when Tage Thompson — notably left off Team USA’s 4 Nations roster — shook off Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren in the corner before powering his way to the net and finishing on his backhand.
Ryan McLeod then flung one from the top of the zone that took a weird bounce off Braden Schneider’s stick and went in.
With Sam Carrick in the penalty box for cross checking at the end of the period, Dahlin netted his second of the frame on the Sabres power play for the 5-0 lead.
That effectively ended Shesterkin’s night, counting as the fourth time he has been pulled this season.
It also marked the first time the Rangers allowed five goals in a period this season.
The Rangers cut the deficit to three after a two-goal second period in which the two teams each finished with 10 shots on goal.
Chris Kreider redirected a feed from Artemi Panarin on the Rangers power play to get on the scoreboard before Mika Zibanejad batted in the rebound off his initial redirection to make it a 5-2 game.
There still wasn’t much pop to the game despite the Rangers’ slight push.
The Sabres just kept piling on, with Thompson notching his second of the game at the 3:47 mark of the third period before McLeod did the same just under two minutes later. Then one last parting shot with a Henri Jokiharju goal with 36 seconds to go.
The Rangers gave up eight goals for the first time this season.
