Larry Brooks

Larry Brooks

NHL

In sorry matchup, sorriest player is Lundqvist

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King.

If this means the Islanders represent the Battle of New York Royalty in the wake of their 5-3 victory over the Rangers at the Garden on Friday night, then so be it, for the position on our town’s hockey throne has been at least temporarily vacated by Henrik Lundqvist.

This was not a bout between giants in their chosen field. Indeed, our two teams have established themselves as Lilliputians in the Metropolitan Division that henceforth is to be known as Sidney and the Seven Dwarfs.

The winners recorded their first non-shootout triumph since Nov. 12, a span of 16 games in which they had gone 2-10-4.

The losers fell for the sixth time in seven games (1-4-2) on this homestand that still has two matches remaining even after they had climbed out of a hole in which they trailed by two goals for the sixth straight match.

Someone might want to review exactly how the Rangers are preparing for these games and then immediately adopt the George Costanza Method for Sunday’s contest against the Wild, which is, of course:

TO DO EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE.

If there is a toe-hold for the Rangers, winners of 16-of-36 overall (16-18-2), it is impossible to discern on this wall of frustration that’s as high as the fabled beanstalk.

Rick Nash, the Rangers’ lone weapon of destruction, continued to self-destruct even as he was more in the picture in the third period. He ultimately was unable to be the difference-maker the club was sure it had gotten — and has been, intermittently — from Columbus, failing to score for the fourth straight match and sixth time on the homestand.

“For sure this is mounting on me, and all of the top guys,” Nash told The Post. “I’m counted on here, and I’m expected to lead by example, so this has been very difficult.

“I think the most important thing is for us to stick together and support one another. We have to remain unified in here and not break apart.

“We can’t yield to frustration and go off on our own,” said Nash, who had three shots in 19:05. “We have to stick to what the coaches put in front of us. It’s the only way we’re going to break out of this.”

But regardless of the team’s strategy, or the system, the club’s psyche has been badly damaged by the longest and deepest slump of Lundqvist’s career.

There was one given when Alain Vigneault took the job behind the bench and that was his team would receive superior goaltending night after night after night, the way it had year after year after year.

But not this year, and not on Friday night, when Lundqvist could not make a second-period 3-2 lead — the Rangers’ first lead in six games — stand for more than 3:28 when he allowed a soft long one.

Three of the four against him — the fifth was an empty-netter — dribbled through, one on a penalty shot. For the first time in his career, Lundqvist has allowed three goals or more in seven straight starts. He is 10-15-2 with a plebian 2.77 GAA and .905 save percentage.

“I’m not doing my job,” Lundqvist told The Post. “It’s my job to clean up the mistakes and I’m not doing that.

“When we come into the room, all we can ask of one another as teammates is for everyone to work hard and for everyone to care,” he said. “I know I’m doing that, but it’s very difficult not to help my team the way I want to. It’s very disappointing.”

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed Islanders are Kings.