HANK’S EYE-OK!
Appears ready for Game 2
PITTSBURGH − Henrik Lundqvist’s black and blue right eye hasn’t dampened the Rangers goalie’s spirits, his prospects of playing in Game 2 on Saturday afternoon, or his unparalleled fashion sense, apparently.
Lundqvist, Sports Illustrated’s fifth most stylish athlete on the magazine’s new “Fashionable 50” list, wore a blue jacket over a plum-colored button down shirt after practicing Friday afternoon to match the colors of the swelling around his eye in front of the national TV cameras at CONSOL Energy Center.
Coach Alain Vigneault said Lundqvist will be a “game-time decision” for the 3 p.m. start against the Penguins because team doctors “want to see how he is going to react to the strain of the practice.”
But Lundqvist was “happy” that Thursday’s visit to a specialist in Pittsburgh revealed “no damage to the eye” − only “uncomfortable” swelling − and his “vision was good” practicing in hopes of paying the Pens back for Wednesday night’s 5-2 loss.
“I feel lucky that nothing bad happened,” said Lundqvist, whose streak of 111 consecutive playoff starts is on the line due to teammate Marc Staal’s stick inadvertently poking through his mask in Game 1. “For probably 20-30 seconds I had some really bad thoughts going through my head, just the way it all happened. It was very scary actually. But everything just happened so fast. I’m happy it’s nothing serious.”
Initially, Lundqvist admitted fearing he may have been blinded as he writhed on the ice with 48.2 seconds remaining in Wednesday’s first period.
“It was such a weird feeling, because it was extremely painful but at the same time you go numb a little bit, so you don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “Before you open your eyes you don’t really know what the reaction will be. So that was the scary part − not knowing. And I wasn’t sure.”
He played the rest of the period − allowing Patric Hornqvist’s goal with just 17.6 seconds left in the first period − as his eye began to feel better but then stepped away at intermission because “it was just harder and harder to get that crisp focus” that a goalie needs “to focus quickly on moving objects.”
“That’s the important thing here,” Lundqvist said, “that you can’t put yourself ahead of the team.”
Surprisingly, Lundqvist said he would not recommend the NHL change its standards for goalie cages or masks, like his Bauer ProXPM. He feels that way even though Carolina’s Brad Malone also hit him in the neck with a shot on Jan. 31, 2015 after teammate Ryan McDonagh inadvertently lifted the mask with his stick.
“I feel as a goalie you are pretty well protected,” Lundqvist said. “So I don’t see it as an issue. Within a year here I’ve experienced two freak accidents, but I still feel like the equipment’s good and there’s nothing really to change there.”
Third-string goalie Magnus Hellberg hung around just in case, but all signs pointed to Lundqvist starting Game 2. The Rangers need him without captain Ryan McDonagh (right hand injury) for a second straight game, while the Penguins may get top goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion) and star forward Evgeni Malkin (upper-body injury) back from injury after they sat out Game 1.
“We’re gonna need our top-end players to play big,” Vigneault said. “It’s time to make a difference here.”