Rangers’ Lundqvist stands tall in shutout vs. Detroit
Miller scores in overtime of defensive struggle for New York
Henrik Lundqvist had little time to react to Henrik Zetterberg’s shot from point-blank range in the third period.
The puck hit the New York goalie in the helmet and bounced away.
“Those shots hurt in practice,” Lundqvist said. “But when you make a save like that in a scoreless game, it’s a great feeling.”
That was one of the few good scoring chances for either team, and when J.T. Miller finally scored in overtime, Lundqvist and the visiting New York Rangers prevailed, 1-0, against the Detroit Red Wings.
Lundqvist made 21 saves for his second shutout of the season and 61st of his career.
Lundqvist has allowed only two goals in his past two games after letting in 20 in the previous four.
“The defense was really structured in front of me, and I was able to take advantage of that,” he said. “In these last two games, I’ve tried to keep the puck in front of me and stay patient. That’s what I had gotten away from.”
The Rangers managed only 19 shots in the game, which ended on Miller’s goal at 1:56 of overtime.
Mats Zuccarello and Miller swooped in alone on Detroit goalie Jared Coreau, then Zuccarello made a simple pass to Miller, who lifted the puck over Coreau for his 16th goal of the season.
“I always liked the 3 on 3. It’s a lot more exciting, I think,” Coreau said. “That’s the nature of it. At one end, a couple bounces here and there, goes off the glass, they get a breakaway.”
Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall played for the first time since Jan. 4, returning from a lower-body injury.
“Neither team was generating a lot of offensive chances,” New York coach Alain Vigneault said.
“The quality of the ice today was just horrendous, and when you can’t put two passes together, it is hard to demonstrate any skill. There wasn’t any room in the neutral zone, so both teams were just crossing the red line and dumping it in to try to create something down low.”
Lundqvist’s previous shutout this season was Nov. 1 against St. Louis. He made 35 saves in that 5-0 victory. His .904 save percentage this season is well below his norm — he has never finished lower than .912.
“Hank has gone through some challenging times, but he worked at it and now he’s back to where we need him,” Vigneault said. “That was a big shutout for us.”
Other games
Blue Jackets 7, Senators
6: Cam Atkinson’s second goal of the game at 1:09 of overtime lifted Columbus to a win in Ottawa.
Flyers 3, Islanders 2: Claude Giroux scored at 3:20 of overtime as visiting Philadelphia beat New York, ending the Islanders’ threegame winning streak.
Blackhawks 4, Canucks
2: Richard Panik and Patrick Kane opened the scoring in the first period and Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa ended it in the fourth to lead host Chicago past Vancouver.
Predators 4, Wild 2: Filip Forsberg scored twice on assists by Ryan Johansen in the third period and then Johansen scored himself as Nashville won in Minnesota.