On Fifth Avenue, a couple of blocks from the famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, there’s a bronze statue of Atlas holding the heavens.
That’s kind of what Henrik Lundqvist had been doing for the Rangers for the first eight years he’d been in net since arriving from Sweden, holding the heavens for his teammates.
Only now, it seems as if Lundqvist is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. And if Atlas isn’t shrugging — and believe me, he is not — he is most certainly buckling.
It is a mystery as to why.
The Rangers are not in a position to wait for Lundqvist to find his game, his confidence, his rhythm, his aura, his mojo.
Not now, not even placed as they are in the Metropolitan Division, which is the 21st century equivalent of the old Smythe Division, not this deep into a season in which fragility is the club’s most identifiable characteristic.
And so, for the second straight night and game, Cam Talbot will be in net when the Blueshirts face the Maple Leafs at the Garden on Monday to complete this nine-game homestand, on which the team has gone 2-4-2; 1-4-2 with Lundqvist and 1-0 with Talbot in the aftermath of Sunday’s 4-1 victory over the Wild.
There is no need this time to comb through resource material to discover the last time a healthy Lundqvist served as backup for consecutive games. It was three weeks ago. Then, with the goaltender’s contract extension still pending, coach Alain Vigneault’s decision to go with Talbot in consecutive matches on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 created a kerfuffle.
Now, not so much.
Here it is, distilled to the simplest degree: The Rangers have won 10 of Lundqvist’s 27 starts. They have won seven of Talbot’s nine starts.
They have played more confident hockey in front of the 26-year-old NHL freshman, who has been simply unflappable. Talbot is big in net and handles the puck well. He plays economically, and that’s not a reference to his contract, under which he will earn $562,500 per through next season, though it certainly could be. The call to go with Talbot in the final game before the NHL’s three-day Christmas break was a slam dunk for Vigneault, who certainly doesn’t seem at fault for Lundqvist’s frailty, but is somehow on the cusp of a goaltending issue in New York the way he was in Vancouver with Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider.
After Monday, the Rangers’ next game is on Friday in Washington, where Lundqvist has recorded two consecutive shutouts, including last year’s Game 7 first-round elimination triumph over the Caps. It would mark a week between starts — which importantly would include three days away from the rink and the grind — that should represent a mental-health break for Lundqvist. This represents the best opportunity for Lundqvist to kick-start the worst season of his professional career.
But if there’s trouble there, or in the following week that features matches in Tampa, Florida, Pittsburgh and Toronto, then the Rangers will be in trouble. Then, the Rangers and Vigneault would be in a game-by-game mode.
Then, the Rangers would have a full-blown goaltending controversy. You bet they would. And nobody wants that, least of all Vigneault.
It is impossible to recall an elite goaltender — five times a Vezina finalist, once a winner, as selected by NHL general managers — with an unblemished track record of success struggling to the degree Lundqvist has this season.
He is 31, so it is not age. The change in the Rangers’ system has required an adjustment, but it is not as if there were a force field around him when John Tortorella was behind the bench; indeed, the Blueshirts were often under siege, playing circle-the-wagons, able to survive only because of the goaltender’s brilliance.
The size of the goaltender’s pads has shrunk by league mandate, but that doesn’t explain Lundqvist’s chronic issue with his glove hand.
Of course, there is the contract, the seven-year, $59.5 million extension that was signed immediately after Lundqvist had been designated as backup twice in a row at the start of the month and was actually asked whether he regarded himself as the team’s No. 1.
If there is buyer’s remorse, know this: The no-move clause in the extension does not kick in until July 1. Theoretically, Lundqvist could be traded this season.
In the real world, of course, he is as unmovable as the 7-ton bronze statue across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.