For the New York Rangers to succeed this season, or any season, they need Henrik Lundqvist to be the solid goaltender he has been for the vast majority of his career on Broadway.
Goalie Henrik Lundqvist bounced back for shutout win over Detroit – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
This season he has been seeing BBs instead of beach balls when facing down opposition pucks.
After a three-game losing streak in which Lundqvist was not even adequate, the Rangers have won two straight and the old Lundqvist seems to have returned.
On Sunday afternoon, Lundqvist stopped all 21 shots he faced from the Detroit Red Wings in 1-0 overtime win.
“Hank went through some challenging times there, just as any goalie does, but he worked really hard to get his game back,” Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault said. “He’s right where we need him.”
For Lundqvist himself it was a case of getting back to basics and rebuildling confidence.
“We have a well-structured defense, and I just needed to let them do their jobs,” he said. “If I keep the puck in front of me and stay patient, I’ll play better.”
In the extra session Sunday, Mats Zuccarello broke into the Wings zone on the left wing after taking a pass from JT Miller, Zuccarello deked Detroit goalie Jared Coreau with a dip of the shoulder and flung the puck to Miller on his right who buried the puck for the winner.
WATCH: All Rangers vs. Red Wings highlights
“A win is a win. This wasn’t a pretty game, but we’re happy walking out of here with two points,” Vigneault said.
Ice conditions were reportedly less than ideal with warm, humid weather in the Detroit area.
“The ice conditions today were just horrendous,” Vigneault said. “When you can’t put two passes together, there’s no way for either team to demonstrate any real skill. Both teams were just crossing the red line and dumping it in.”
Coreau had 18 saves in the loss.
“For a while, we were playing pretty well, but not getting points out of it,” Detroit head coach Jeff Blashill said. “Now we’re getting more from the games, but we have to raise our level and get two points from games like Buffalo and today.”
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