HANK LOOKING LIKE KING AGAIN
PHOTO BY GETTY
The Rangers need more of the Henrik Lundqvist they got in Wednesday’s 4-2 win over the Bruins, more of the guy who made several difficult saves in stopping 31 of 33 shots, and he believes he’s closer to achieving greater consistency while he and his teammates have reeled off a five-game win streak.
“I’m feeling better and better,” said Lundqvist, who’s played in every game during the streak. “But it goes hand-in-hand with the structure in front of me. I think we help each other right now where I try to give them confidence and they help me to play my game. I can focus a lot on the shooter and be a little more aggressive when I feel like we’re in the right place. That’s our job, to help each other to raise our level. It’s something we needed to do and I feel like the last week and a half we’re moving in the right direction.”
It all goes hand-in-hand indeed. Sometimes goals against are the result of poor structure, others are ones Lundqvist could’ve done better on. His overall numbers this season stand at a 2.99 goals against average, .903 save percentage in all situations and a .901 even-strength save percentage in 14 games.
However, the 113 “high danger” shots he’s faced, per corsica.hockey, are the secondmost against any goaltender in the NHL with at least 400 minutes; he’s ninth-best in highdanger save percentage at .823.
Lundqvist was quite sharp on Wednesday, with Alain Vigneault saying, “this was probably the best Hank has looked as far as, you know, in control.”
Above all else, Lundqvist and the Rangers have won five straight to put themselves back on track. They know how quickly a season can turn — in either direction.
“The good thing about this game, you play so many games that you have a chance to make up for a bad performance the next night or two nights later,” Lundqvist said.
“It comes quick, so it can turn for you fast and you just have to be humble and honest about your own game when things are not going well and try to analyze what you need to do better. But it’s tough when you start a season because you don’t have much to fall back on. When it happens in the middle of the season, sometimes you have something to grab and hold onto.”