Lundqvist so-so on NHL’s hit ruling

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Henrik Lundqvist and Alain Vigneault seemed satisfied — to an extent-with the four-game suspension handed down to Dallas forward Cody Eakin after Eakin blasted the goalie in the Rangers win on Thursday.

“You need to see a lot of different hits to get a good read on how many games he should get,” Lundqvist said before returning for Saturday night’s game against the Predators after Friday’s ruling by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. “That’s why you have that committee, to get it right. All I can say is it was not a good hit, obviously. I’ll leave it up to them.”

And he said that other than some slight stiffness in the shoulder and neck, he felt OK — a fortunate outcome given the violence of the hit. And the goalie said it was time to “move on.”

“There’s too much hockey to get stuck on stuff like that,” Lundqvist said. “I’m just happy I got out of it without any bad consequences. I didn’t see him coming at all. It’s shocking when you get hit like that. You have to regroup a little bit.”

It was the suddenness of the hit, as well as the fact that plays like that are so uncommon now, that played a part in a lack of retribution by the Rangers.

Of the suspension, Vigneault said, “I guess that’s fair.”

Lundqvist was terrific on Saturday and said of his game: “I felt good. It feel like my focus is good. My timing is better.”

Vigneault knocked Brandon Pirri’s recent performance and sat him in favor of Matt Puempel, who hadn’t played since being sidelined after a concussion suffered against the Islanders on Dec. 6.

“I think Pirri’s play has slipped a little bit, for whatever reason,” Vigneault said.