THE KING RETURNS WITH A SHUTOUT
King takes big hit, but earns shutout
DALLAS — Desperation.
That’s not a word Henrik Lundqvist has used much to talk about his own game over the first 12 years of his career, but it was the first one he used after this emotional return to the Rangers’ nets —a return that also included him getting steamrolled by a hit and pulled from the game to be checked for a concussion.
But the man who remains the franchise bedrock was outstanding in notching his second shutout of the season, a 2-0 victory over the Stars on Thursday night at American Airlines Center. It was Lundqvist’s first game back after his career-long four-game stint as a healthy backup to his sparkling understudy, Antti Raanta.
“All I can say is I went out there with a lot of desperation in my approach,” Lundqvist said after stopping all 27 shots he faced, including 18 in an onslaught of a second period. “I felt like it was an important game for me to just feel good. My game hasn’t changed over a week, but my mind-set has obviously changed a little bit with everything that’s been going on. It is a new experience for me, but I just have to approach it like you go out there and do what you can to help the team to try to win. You don’t over-think it.”
With 9:19 gone in the first period, the Rangers (21-10-1) were on one of their three failed power plays (8:09 total of manadvantage time) when Lundqvist went behind his net to play the puck. Dallas forward Cody Eakin came barreling in and laid a huge, high hit on Lundqvist, sending his helmet flying and sending him spiraling to the ice, where he would stay facedown for a few minutes.
After being checked by trainer Jim Ramsay, he left the ice for a total of 5:31 of game time while going through the league-mandated concussion protocol. Raanta came in but didn’t see a shot as his team blew a 5-minute power play, including 51 seconds of 5-on-3 time.
The hit earned Eakin a game misconduct, a fiveminute charging major and likely a multi-game suspension — which still might not be good enough for Rangers coach Alain Vigneault.
“First thing is the league better do something about that hit,” Vigneault said. “It’s everything you want to take away from the game. It’s a hit to the head, forward motion, and it’s a goaltender on top. That happens in the playoffs and your goaltender has to go out of the net — they better do something about that. They better take care of business.”
Lundqvist returned for the final 5:10 of the first period, and then put on a show in the second as his team took three penalties almost in succession.
“Technically, I felt really good,” Lundqvist said. “But I can tell I hadn’t played in a while. It was a little weird in the beginning to be out there. I’m not used to having over a week break. But I felt fresh, I felt excited to be out there.”
This road trip continues with a game in Nashville on Saturday, and when Vigneault was asked if he knew who he wanted to start in goal, the coach let out a laugh that shook the walls. It’s a question that is no longer quite as pertinent, as order has been restored in the Rangers’ universe and The King is back atop his throne.