Not dethroned
King Henrik rebounds with shutout
AFTER losing each of their first two games of the season, these already felt like desperate times for the Rangers, at least based on the lineup decisions Alain Vigneault made Sunday.
It wasn’t necessarily unexpected that Henrik Lundqvist, one night removed from being pulled after a first period in which he allowed five goals, went right back in net. But it was surprising rookie forward Filip Chytil and defenseman Brendan Smith were each scratched and that Vigneault dressed seven defensemen.
Vigneault described his club’s match against Montreal as “a big game,” and the Rangers pulled it out as Lundqvist pitched a 34-save shutout, 2-0, for the team’s first win of the season after Saturday’s 8-5 debacle in Toronto.
“It’s such a big difference to play in a game where everyone knows what’s happening out there,” said Lundqvist, who was hoping to play. “(Saturday) was just very tough, especially for me in the first period.”
Two huge decisions in the first period went the Rangers’ way. Andrew Shaw scored at 6:24 after Lundqvist failed to cover up the puck, but after video review it was determined Shaw kicked the puck off Lundqvist and in, therefore the goal was waved off.
Less than three minutes later, Vigneault challenged for goalie interference after a puck deflected off Ryan McDonagh and in while Max Pacioretty made contact with Lundqvist. The officials determined Lundqvist was in fact interfered with and Montreal had another goal wiped out.
Up until that point the Rangers weren’t looking much better than they were the night prior, but they improved as the period went along. Then with 2:35 left in the first, five seconds after a Rangers offensive-zone draw, Brady Skjei threw the puck toward the crease and it deflected off Shea Weber’s right skate and in to give the Blueshirts their first lead of the season.
“It was a little sloppy early again,” Marc Staal said. “I thought we did a little bit of a better job of not going after it and opening ourselves up too much where we’re giving them too many grade-A looks. Hankie made some saves and we were starting to find our feet and starting to play a little better.”
Mika Zibanejad buried a great feed from behind the net by Pavel Buchnevich for his fourth goal at 9:13 of the third.
Ultimately the Rangers got their desired result, but the Rangers still have work to do. Nick Holden and Steven Kampfer, each of whom made his season debut, struggled on the third pair and the Canadiens held a 56-26 edge in even-strength attempts.
Lundqvist’s 62nd career shutout mitigated that. “It definitely felt good to bounce back like this,” he said.