NEW YORK (NY) – The New Jersey Devils led for most of the game, but Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers turned a lackluster effort into a win Sunday night. Lundqvist stopped 29 shots to give the Rangers the win and the sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference, just one point behind the Chicago Blackhawks for the league lead.
Goalie Henrik Lundqvist (#30) – file photo by Lewis Bleman
The Rangers have now won six of their past seven.
“We talked about going into this game that both teams traveled [Saturday] night, have been playing a lot of hockey, but let’s not try to find excuses for not winning this one,”remarked Lundqvist, who tied Dominik Hasek for most wins all-time for a European born goalie. “I thought we did a really good job in the third to turn it up. You can never give up. You’ve gotta believe it. The way the guys continued to work in the third when we got down a goal, that was impressive. It builds character in this room too. Never give up.”
The Rangers were held scoreless for the majority of the game until Chris Kreider finished off a beautiful feed from Mats Zuccarello behind the net to tie the game at one. Zuccarello took care of some crafty work in the corner before dishing off a pass to Kreider who was left all alone in front of the net.
The Devils responded maturely just over two minutes later to take the lead. Adam Henrique was the first to find the puck behind the net and fed Miles Wood to surprise Lundqvist and give the Devils a 2-1 lead.
Ryan McDonagh made sure the game didn’t end in regulation, as he directed a shot-pass to Derek Stepan who angled his stick appropriately with 1:14 remaining to take a 2-2 tie into overtime.
After a scoreless OT, it was the Henrik Lundqvist show.
He made three saves in the shootout (allowing one) to get the teams 23rd win of the season.
New York heads to Pittsburgh to take on Scott Wilson and the Penguins on Tuesday at 7pm.
The Devils will host Nashville on Tuesday night at 7pm.
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