Hank flashes old form as postseason nears
Hospital, where he was “awake and alert,” according to
Flyers general manager Ron Hextall. Neuvirth stopped all six shots he faced. “We sent him to the hospital for precautionary reasons and everything so far
The single biggest development for the Rangers in their 4-3 shootout loss to the Penguins on Friday night was Henrik Lundqvist once again looking like himself, appearing more confident and efficient in his movements while tracking the puck well and coming up with big saves in flurries to keep the Rangers within reach before they came back from two goals down to force overtime.
“He was by far our best player,” Rick Nash said. “I thought the score could have gotten out of control for a little stretch. It seems like they had a lot of chances in bunches.”
Enormously crucial right now for the Rangers is Lundqvist reaching peak form heading into the postseason, because even if they have defensive lapses, an inform Lundqvist can mitigate mistakes and steal them a game — assuming the Rangers
The Flyers took an early lead at the 7:28 mark on Schenn’s 24th goal of the season and team-high 17th on the power play. Schenn was at the side of the Devils net when Claude stop allowing opposing players free rein in front of their goaltender.
“I think the last couple games have been a good test for us as a team and for me,” Lundqvist said. “Some skilled teams, they make a lot of good plays. You’re not going to get away with just an okay effort. Starting with me, it needs to be a really good effort to get the win. The way they move the puck, the way they create chances, you really need to take care of the little things and I think we did. Especially in the first half and the first period, we came out really good, good energy. The game kind of changes a couple times, the momentum. Obviously that’s going to happen.”
Lundqvist said he was fine after Jake Guentzel slid into him during overtime. He said his neck and shoulder might have
RANGERS vs. FLYERS 7:30 p.m. on NBCSN
Giroux’s errant shot caromed off the end boards onto his stick for an open netter. Nine seconds later, on a faceoff in the Devils’ zone, Neuvirth collapsed in his goal crease and lay motionless on the ice for close to 2 minutes. “It’s obviously pretty scary when you see your goaltender just collapse like that,”
Flyers left wing Chris VandeVelde said. “I’m not been stiff Saturday, when the Rangers were off, but he wasn’t concerned.
The Rangers (46-26-6, 98 points) certainly missed captain Ryan McDonagh on Friday night with an injury described by Alain Vigneault as “nothing serious.” They should certainly hope so. Their top defenseman missed the first two games of the first round against Pittsburgh last year with a hand injury and played the end of the 2015 conference final against Tampa Bay with a broken foot.
On Sunday, the Rangers will host the Flyers at the Garden, where they sure really what happened, if he fainted or got lightheaded or what, but it was pretty scary and I’m glad to see he was moving and functioning when he was rolled off the ice.”
—AP have an eight-game losing streak and just two games left to try to snap it. In the last meeting between the two the Flyers shut the Rangers out 2-0 at the Garden, one of only two times the Blueshirts have been shut out this season.
Four games remain before a forecasted first-round matchup against the Canadiens. Lundqvist is set to play in three of them: Sunday’s matchup against Philly, Wednesday in Washington and one of the back-to-back games against Ottawa and Pittsburgh next weekend.
There was progress for Lundqvist on Friday and a better effort by the team as a whole, though not enough to be completely ready for a best-of-seven series. Players have stressed being at their best in the final few games before the playoffs. The time is now to reach their desired level.
“Moving forward, you just have to try to improve, personally and as a group,” Lundqvist said. “I think there are a couple things we can talk about and do better. It’s moving in the right direction.”