SPLITSVILLE: Henrik Lundqvist goes all out to stop the Hurricanes’ Alexander Semin during the shootout in the Rangers’ 2-1 victory last night. (Anthony J Causi)
SPLITSVILLE: Henrik Lundqvist goes all out to stop the Hurricanes’ Alexander Semin during the shootout in the Rangers’ 2-1 victory last night. (
)
Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t going to lie. It has been different coming to the rink this year than last year. It has been different reporting to the practice rink for a team currently out of a playoff spot than it was for a conference leader.
“You can’t feel the same way when you’re losing as when you’re winning,” Lundqvist told The Post following yesterday’s morning skate. “I’m sure other players would react differently, but not me.
“It’s not a feeling that I bring into the game with me. By that time, I’m only focused on what I need to do in the game, but coming to the rink in the morning, there’s a difference.
“Everything,” the goaltender said, “is better when you’re winning.”
All is at least temporarily well in Lundqvist’s Kingdom after his outstanding performance keyed the Blueshirts to a 2-1 shootout victory over the Hurricanes at the Garden last night to break a stifling three-game losing streak that cast playoff qualification into peril.
The Rangers scored just once, finishing the night with a scoreless streak of 33:54 after it had grown to 129:55 before Derek Stepan’s goal midway through the second negated Eric Staal’s late first-period tally, and have scored just three times over the last four games, but this surely was progress.
Because the Blueshirts dominated in offensive-zone and possession time over the final 45 minutes following a desultory opening 20. Because they created off both the rush and forecheck.
And because, bottom line, the Rangers came away with two points, leapfrogging the Islanders into ninth place in the Eastern Conference and moving within two points of the eighth-place Devils with a Battle of the Hudson showdown set for tonight in Newark.
“We had to win,” said Brian Boyle, who centered JT Miller and Taylor Pyatt on a third line that used muscle and hustle in pinning the ’Canes along the wall and below the hash marks. “It’s after St. Patrick’s Day; there’s urgency, for sure.”
In the morning, Lundqvist had also talked about “urgency.” Hours later, he delivered the type of performance that was routine during last year’s Vezina winning season. After yielding one on a wicked one-timer from Eric Staal, Marc’s older brother, the King refused to be beaten as the Rangers — including a souped-up, reunited Marian Gaborik-Brad Richards-Rick Nash unit that produced 10 shots and 19 attempts — amped it up.
“The way we have been having trouble scoring, I know I can’t afford to make a mistake,” said Lundqvist, who stopped both Carolina shooters in the skills competition. “I see that as a great challenge.
“When they got the first goal, I knew the second one was going to be critical. After the first one, I felt pressure to shut them down.”
Lundqvist shut Carolina down and out the remainder of the way, his breathtaking left pad save on Riley Nash’s point blank try at 10:43 of the second preceding — if not permitting — Stepan’s goal on the ensuing rush.
“Of course you can feel [the importance],” Lundqvist said. “When you come up with big saves, you want them to matter. This one did.
“In other games, it hasn’t been enough; I’ve given up the second or third goal.”
There is still work to be done, and critically so tonight. Still, the Rangers did not crack under the burden of their drought.
“We’ve stuck together and that’s not always easy to do,” Boyle told The Post. “The [3-0 defeat on Saturday] was a pretty bad one, but nobody was pointing fingers and nobody was sulking.”
The Rangers won a game last night. The sun will come up this morning for Lundqvist, cloud cover or not.
“I’ll be ready for [the Devils] but I’m going to enjoy this one for sure,” said The King. “It’s been a while.”