CAN'T PAV' IT ALL
Backup saves Rangers, but magic fades in shootout loss
STARS 2 RANGERS 1
There weren’t even the proper words to describe how appreciative the Rangers were for backup goalie Ondrej Pavelec saving them from utter embarrassment.
Because in just his fifth start of the season, Pavelec was all that kept the Blueshirts from getting run out of their building, the single reason they were able to slink away with a point in their 2-1 shootout loss to the Stars on Monday night at the Garden.
“It was unbelievable. I haven’t seen a performance like that in a long time,” Rick Nash told The Post after his goalie made 40 saves in regulation, four more during the wildly frantic three-on-three overtime, but then could only stop one-of-three shooters in the skills competition. “I don’t know if there’s words to describe it. Wow. It was awesome.”
Other than that, there was almost nothing the Rangers (16-11-3) could be happy with. They couldn’t complete a 10-foot pass, they turned the puck over in every zone, and they defended with a chaos that was only saved by the inability of the Stars (17-13-1) to get to the front of the net.
The Rangers had only 10 shots through two periods and were eventually outshot, 45-25, and out-attempted by a ghastly margin of 90-45. The Blueshirts team that beat the Devils, 5-2, on Saturday was nowhere to be found, and it was only Pavelec there to stop Tyler Seguin wide open in the slot once a period, as well as a pair of saves on Devin Shore and Remi Elie on the doorstep late in the first to keep it scoreless.
“I think everyone in here knows that was embarrassing for two periods,” said forward Mats Zuccarello, the team’s lone scorer in the shootout with David Desharnais and Kevin Shattenkirk both denied. “They smacked us around and we didn’t win one battle. We didn’t win a puck battle in front of the net. We weren’t first on the pucks. It’s not acceptable for the team that we are supposed to be.”
The Stars were never able to pull away more than the 1-0 lead staked to them by a right-circle blast from defenseman Julius Honka at 6:30 of the second period, and letting the Rangers hang around was a mistake. With 3:41 left in regulation, a long Brady Skjei shot deflected off the leg of Nash and in, and even after Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock challenged for goalie interference — with Nash coming close to Lehtonen’s glove — the goal was upheld and the game inexplicably went to overtime.
“The only reason we got a point was because of [our] goaltender,” said J.T. Miller, who had a great chance to turn some momentum
around with a second-period breakaway, his deft move to the backhand denied by Kari Lehtonen — former teammates with Pavelec in Atlanta. “Pavs was unreal. Kept us in it, gave us a chance to win in a game where we had no business.”
Pavelec had been so scarcely used through the first two months of this season, unexpectedly getting his fourth start of the year this past Tuesday in Pittsburgh when Henrik Lundqvist came down with the flu. He made 41 saves in that 4-3 victory, and his game rounding into form is only a good sign if things can shape up in front of him.
“You lose the game, so right now it’s kind of disappointing,” Pavelec said. “We have to move on, and to- morrow is a new day. Big games coming up.”
With Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Capitals in Washington, the Rangers began a stretch of six games in nine nights, and coach Alain Vigneault said Pavelec was going to start two of them. If Vigneault’s lack of patience after the game was an indication, any plan might be subject to change.
“Two positives: Pavs played unreal, and because of his performance, we were able to get a point,” Vigneault said in his one postgame remark before leaving. “Other than that, we weren’t good. I think I summarized it pretty good there.”