STILL ON
A SHOOTOUT may not be an ideal way to end a hockey game, and if the Rangers and Canadiens end up meeting in the playoffs as currently forecasted, a true winner will be determined.
The Garden crowd, though, was into this skill competition Tuesday night, on their feet throughout the five rounds, ending with Paul Byron beating Henrik Lundqvist to hand the Rangers a 3-2 loss, snapping their five-game home winning streak.
Losing in the shootout after being tied 2-2 through overtime, the Rangers (38-19-2) have no reason to beat themselves up over this loss, a game in which they picked things up after a subpar first period. But there’s always going to be at least one man unhappy with a result like this: the losing goaltender. And Lundqvist couldn’t immediately be satisfied with the team earning one point.
“Maybe not right now,” said Lundqvist, who made 24 saves in regulation and two huge saves on Max Pacioretty in overtime. “We played a good game; we did a lot of good things and played well enough to win it. It came down to extra shots in the end, but we definitely had some looks and worked hard all over the ice. We just played a really good team; they had a strong game as well. There are a lot of good things to take with us here for next game. I am pretty disappointed right now, but I appreciate the effort here from everyone.” Lundqvist and Carey Price each made several sterling saves, both showing why, despite some unusual struggles at times this year, they’ve been two of the best goalies in the league for some time.