TAMPA — It was far from perfect, or inspiring or anything more than just what it was — a win.
Yet in the visitors’ dressing room at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Sunday night, there was Henrik Lundqvist underneath the Broadway hat, an unfamiliar sight in this ugly season of mediocrity, and even if the Rangers franchise goaltender was subdued in his joy, finally he was no longer joyless.
“I’m just trying to smile a little bit, even though it’s tough,” said Lundqvist, who made 15 of his 37 saves in the third period of a 4-3 win over the sluggish Lightning. “A win definitely helps, so you might see me smiling tomorrow.”
It doesn’t take a hard jogging of the memory to look upon the previous three games the Rangers had played, all started by backup Cam Talbot as Lundqvist watched, openly befuddled by how the team responded with a different netminder. But coach Alain Vigneault has said all along how important it is for the team’s long-term success Lundqvist regain his Vezina Trophy-winning form of two seasons ago, and that could at least be seen in glimpses as Lundqvist took his team to 19-19-2 and 4-2-1 in its past seven.
“I think Henrik is an elite goaltender,” Vigneault said. “He knows what he needs to do to get his game in order. He’s been working extremely hard with [goalie coach] Benoit [Allaire] to find his game, and tonight, obviously, he was the difference in the third period.”
The Lightning (23-12-4) didn’t find their legs until the third period, having lost 2-1 in a shootout to the visiting Canadiens the night before. But when they did, it was Lundqvist standing tall, not getting startled by Valtteri Filppula’s goal 8:14 into the third that cut the Rangers’ lead to 4-3.
“Our third period was not really good and Hank was our best player,” said forward Mats Zuccarello, who was outstanding in notching a goal and two assists, his hand in all three power-play goals the Rangers scored. “We were a little bit nervous there in the third period, I felt, and didn’t play up to our standard. And Hank today was our best player. That gives him confidence and it gives us confidence knowing that he’s on his game.”
So the Blueshirts went 3-for-3 on the man-advantage, which supplemented Rick Nash’s first-period goal that opened the scoring, as The Big Easy broke a seven-game scoreless streak. But tallies from Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat late in the first kept the Lightning in it, and allowed for the third-period push to be meaningful.
“We got back on our heels and stopped playing hockey,” Brad Richards said. “They got a lot of chances, but Hank came up big and four was enough.”
Vigneault hasn’t exactly quelled the flames of a goalie controversy, yet it’s almost a certainty Lundqvist will start against the Panthers in Sunrise, Fla., for Tuesday’s New Year’s Eve game. But for Lundqvist, the rebuilding of his confidence cannot come in one fell swoop, and in the midst of his deepest career quagmire, that’s something he understands above all else.
“I take every start now as an opportunity to turn this around,” Lundqvist said. “I know it’s going to take more than one game. I don’t think I’ve experienced a period like this my whole career, even in Sweden. … This is something you have to learn from and just keep working and stay positive.”
For one night, at least, that won’t be too difficult.