It was another night on which the Rangers appeared dozy through the first 30 minutes, another match in which they allowed the opposition to dictate terms for far too long.
Oh, and this too: It was another game the Rangers won.
The Blueshirts are 9-2-1 following last night’s 4-2 triumph at the Coliseum over the Islanders, but while victory in the NHL is its own virtue, it would be folly not to understand that the record has been built primarily due to the consistently elite goaltending the team has received since Day 1 in Prague.
Henrik Lundqvist was at the top of his game last night, just as he has been at the top of his game in every one of his 10 starts this season, just the way Steve Valiquette has been at the top of his game in his two starts.
Lundqvist was brilliant early, when the Islanders’ hard forecheck forced an unacceptable number of elementary and careless Ranger blunders, just as he was outstanding Friday night in Columbus, when the Blueshirts played with limited passion and sharpness the first 28 minutes.
Understand this: If Lundqvist were as wanting in carrying out his assignment over 60 minutes as his teammates have been carrying out theirs, the Rangers would be a middle-of-the-pack team rather than the one at the top of the NHL heap.
“I feel really confident,” said The King, who made a pair of brilliant early saves on Trent Hunter and a sensational stop on Kyle Okposo late in the first. “I’m playing the way I should be.”
Tied 1-1 after a first period in which Chris Drury got his first of the season, at 0:56, and Okposo got the equalizer at 19:52 – and during which Brandon Dubinsky was benched for a few turns after taking penalties on each of his first two shifts – the Rangers gradually took over the game against a talent-inferior opponent.
“We didn’t break, that was the main thing,” said coach Tom Renney. “I think our guys realize they have to play on the same page for 60 minutes in order for us to have the success that they all want.”
The Rangers have outscored the opposition by an aggregate 10-7 in their opening periods, but that margin is owed to a 4-0 first-period blitz in Philadelphia on Oct. 11. The Blueshirts have a 10-8 edge in second-period scoring and an 11-7 edge in the third.
“As long as we’re really good in the last 10 minutes, the first 10 probably aren’t as difficult to accept,” said Lundqvist, who has allowed two goals or fewer eight times. “It’s hard to play 60 complete minutes in this league.
“Really, as long as we keep it simple and keep believing in our system, I think we’ll be fine.”
Drury, whose first came off a funky, inadvertent deflection, added another by blasting a 40-footer past Joey MacDonald late in the third on a five-on-three to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead.
Ryan Callahan and Scott Gomez also scored for the Blueshirts, who didn’t get much at all from Dubinsky, Nikolai Zherdev or Nigel Dawes up front, and who got a flat-line performance from the Wade Redden-Dan Girardi defense pair.
And yet they won. And yet they won again.
Long live the King.
Rangers 4 Isles 2