This 2-0 victory over the Sabres at the Garden on Thursday night marked a return to order in the Rangers’ universe.
First and foremost, Henrik Lundqvist — remember him? — was as close to peak form as he has been all season in recording the 29-save shutout during which he was in complete command, even if against an inferior foe.
Though Cam Talbot’s emergence as a reliable understudy is a fine thing for the Blueshirts, the club’s persona is largely defined by their No. 1 goalie, who has struggled pretty much from the start of camp to establish the game everyone had become accustomed to over Lundqvist’s first eight NHL seasons.
“It has been different,” The King told The Post after recording his first victory since his Oct. 16 shutout of the Capitals in Washington. “It’s been a challenge for me, for sure.
“I have to keep working to turn things around.”
The Rangers have sure turned things around since the season-opening five-game debacle out west in which the club allowed 25 goals in dropping four of its first five games. Since a return to normalcy, the Blueshirts have gone 4-3 in yielding a sum of 12 goals. They have allowed six goals in winning three of their last four to climb within one point of a playoff spot.
“I think the guys are getting pretty confident with good chemistry as far where the puck is going,” Ryan McDonagh said. “We had five guys close to the puck all night, so we had good support, which is key.
“We played a simple game. It was a good example of what we have to continue to do and it was good to see Hank playing the way we know he’s capable of.”
The Rangers used speed to dominate the sad-sack Sabres, who have scored 22 goals in their 2-12-1 getaway. They wheeled through the neutral zone with ease, got the puck in deep, and smothered Buffalo’s attempts to clear the zone.
By the end of the first period, the Rangers owned a 19-6 edge in shots and a whopping 34-10 advantage in attempts. The numbers mounted steadily for the Blueshirts until the final 10 minutes when the Sabres were able to test Lundqvist four or five times on one-and-dones the netminder turned aside.
The total shots were 46-29, the final attempts were 76-50, and it only seemed as if the line with Derek Stepan centering Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello accounted for all of them for the Rangers. Fact is, the unit combined for 18 shots on 22 attempts with Kreider scoring on a second-period rebound for the 2-0 lead after Derek Brassard got the lone first-period goal by beating Ryan Miller on a power-play slap shot.
“A big part of our line right now is Chris Kreider moving his feet,” Stepan said. “When he’s on the puck he gets the puck to Zuke, and Zuke is making plays.
“It’s easy when 20 [Kreider] gets going. It’s hard to slow him down.”
The Rangers have played within a structure the last two weeks. They are playing a safer brand of hockey than they did on the trek through the badlands. They have improved their battle-level immeasurably since losing 4-0 to the Devils at the Prudential Center on Oct. 19.
“I think our confidence is getting higher,” Lundqvist said. “We trust each other and we trust the system. We have to continue to improve, but it’s getting better and better, I think.”
The same applies to the goaltender, who was passed over in favor of Talbot for Tuesday’s match at the Coliseum on the second half of the back-to-back that began with Lundqvist’s 2-0 home-opening defeat to Montreal.
Lundqvist, of course, was coming off the unidentified injury that had sidelined him for two games, but coach Alain Vigneault had said in the morning the physical issue was no more than “10, 15 percent’ of the reason he used Talbot on the Island.
“But it had more to do with back-to-back and it had a lot to do with Cam playing real well and us having confidence in him,” Vigneault said.
Again. That’s different from what we have become accustomed to in these parts regarding goaltending assignments, but it’s up to Lundqvist to earn his starts on the ice rather than with his résumé or marquee value.
“I think I’m getting there,” Lundqvist said. “It’s been bumpy and I still have work to do, but it was definitely a good game for me.
“I want to win. It comes down to winning.”
It comes down to order being restored.