Henrik Lundqvist is a three-time finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie. There were no questions or prodding necessary coming into this season to determine whether he was elite.
As Lundqvist’s spectacular seventh season for the Rangers continues — his latest gem an NHL-leading seventh shutout with 42 saves in Tuesday’s 3-0 win at Boston — teammate Brad Richards has come to a conclusion.
“He’s the best goalie in the world right now in my opinion,” Richards said after yesterday’s practice. “We feed off Hank. Some of the big saves he makes, some of the saves, just night in and night out, we’re probably getting a little spoiled.”
The modest Lundqvist wouldn’t say it. There’s no need to. His play is making more of a statement than any words could.
Over his past eight games, Lundqvist is 7-1 with three shutouts, having not allowed more than two goals in any game during that span. He leads all starting goalies with a 1.77 goals against average and a .941 save percentage.
“He’s a competitor. I think we compete hard as a hockey club and it starts there,” coach John Tortorella said. “It just oozes out of him, and always has since I’ve known him. [On Tuesday], Hank just looked big. There was no net. … He just doesn’t give. I think that’s a very important thing for your goalie to have in what we want our team to be.”
With Lundqvist, and, in his words, “the 20 guys working so hard in front of me,” the Rangers (37-13-5, 79 points) enter tonight’s home game against the Blackhawks with wins in four straight games and eight of their past 10.
Chicago is a team that can match them in talent but not momentum. The Blackhawks (29-21-7, 65 points) will be playing their eighth of nine straight road games, a trip that has prolonged a nine-game losing streak.
Helping the Rangers increase their lead to nine points atop the Eastern Conference has been the recent strength of the power play, a season-long weakness. Ranked 25th in the league going into last night at 14.8 percent, the Rangers have gone 5-for-13 (38.5 percent) on the power play in the past four games.
* Ruslan Fedotenko (concussion) did not participate in yesterday’s practice after skating Monday and Tuesday. Torotorella said, “He doesn’t feel so well.” … According to the AHL website, Wojtek Wolski and Jeff Woywitka have been recalled from the Connecticut Whale following their two-week conditioning assignments.