In a sense, the Rangers are not just where they were before yesterday’s trade NHL deadline came and went with Brad Richards still in Dallas, they are where they have been since the lockout — prepared to go as far as Henrik Lundqvist can take them.
They are all The King’s Horses and all The King’s Men, these What You’ve Seen is What You’ll Get Rangers, this Blue Grit of a team that will rely primarily on its bond, its work ethic and its franchise goaltender the rest of the way, and so much the better if Marian Gaborik returns to full health and can be a difference-maker.
Lundqvist would have started nearly all of the final 18 games regardless, but there’s little choice at the moment in the wake of the season-ending collarbone injury sustained at practice yesterday by backup Martin Biron, who played so well this season. A neophyte, Cam Talbot, is now the backup. This simply means that No. 30 is operating in nets without a safety net.
The best had better be yet to come for Lundqvist, who has been very good but not great; who has been exceptional in shootout victories that are the difference in the standings, but has not maintained a peak level for weeks at a time, as is required.
Biron’s outstanding work gave coach John Tortorella peace of mind to carry through on his preseason plan to give his No. 1 netminder more rest.
But Lundqvist, who has started eight straight, referred to his unusual amount of time off following Friday’s shutout in Washington. He has started 49 of the first 64. Last year he had started 55 at this juncture, finishing with 72 starts after getting the assignment in 25 of the last 26 games. He had similar numbers the previous three years.
Now it’s on Lundqvist to find the way to be consistently one goal better, as he has consistently acknowledged he needs to be. Let’s face it: The Rangers, who have only won five of their past 26 games in regulation, need that, as their 1-5-1 record over the past seven one-goal games with him in nets attests.
And the Rangers are going to require Lundqvist’s best yet this season because general manager Glen Sather had no choice but to refuse Dallas GM Joe Nieuwendyk’s hostage demands relating to Richards, the lone elite player on the market.
There might have been a good reason or two to overpay to rent Richards, regardless of his current physical condition, but there was no reason whatsoever for Sather to ever give serious consideration to the Stars’ standing demand for either three or four key pieces from the Rangers.
We’re told that though Nieuwendyk would substitute one name for another, the Stars never backed off their demand to receive a package of assets including either one or two core roster players, a premium prospect and a first-round draft pick in exchange for giving Richards the option to waive his no-trade, which he would have — of that there is little question.
At some point, Sather will have to move some of the kids for an accomplished, elite player who more often than not makes the ultimate difference. Maybe he even would have yesterday had Dallas given him half a chance. But the Stars didn’t.
Which leaves it up to Lundqvist to be the accomplished, elite player who makes the ultimate difference for Blue Grit.