SAN JOSE, Calif. — This seemed inevitable, the time when the weight of an entire team resting on the shoulders of Henrik Lundqvist was just going to be too much. Eventually, all those nights of heavy lifting were going to catch up, and what happened to the Rangers on Tuesday in Anaheim was something they had to see coming.
That’s when Lundqvist finally looked flawed, finally looked like the 35-year-old he is and not the resurgent Vezina Trophy contender — if not Hart Trophy contender — that he had become while carrying his Blueshirts for close to three months.
Lundqvist gave up three goals on seven shots in just 16:21 of work, allowing a goal on the first shot he faced for the sixth time this season. He has now allowed a goal on one of the first three shots 11 times. It resulted in a 6-3 loss to the Ducks, the Blueshirts falling to 0-3 on this West Coast road trip, which ends in San Jose on Thursday against the Sharks.
And late Tuesday night, Lundqvist owned his performance. “I just didn’t have it,” he said. “I was too slow.”
And when asked if fatigue was a factor, having started six in a row and 41 of the team’s first 49 games, Lundqvist did not look for an excuse — but did not deny it.
“I don’t know why. I was just slow,” he said. “Usually I feel like I stop maybe two of those three shots. Yeah, it’s been intense here the last week, but you battle through it. You’re not going to feel great starting every game. That’s just part of playing in this league. You just have to find a way to elevate your game and be on top of it.”
Lundqvist is on pace to start 67 games, which would be his most since 2010-11. Coach Alain Vigneault, in conjunction with goaltending coach Benoit Allaire and with Lundqvist’s input, has started his franchise bedrock three times in both games of a back-to-back this season. As exemplified in those situations, Lundqvist thrives when he is playing a lot.
But how much is too much?
Since the team’s turnaround from an awful start began on Oct. 31 in a 6-4 comeback win over the Golden Knights at the Garden, Lundqvist has started 32 of 37 games. During that span, he has faced 1,056 shots, the most in the league. That’s an average of 33.9 shots per 60 minutes played. That’s … a lot.
For most of that time, it wasn’t like the Rangers were collapsing and allowing teams to shoot from the outside. More than anything, they were struggling to defend the front of the net, leading to high-danger chances. They were also turning the puck over with regularity, leading to odd-man rushes up the ice.
But recently, Vigneault has refocused his group on playing a defense-first style. Easy to see why, as they have dealt with prolonged absences of Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, and Kevin Shattenkirk. That would kneecap any team’s hope at offensive power.
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The Rangers should also be credited with how hard they’ve worked to rediscover those structural fundamentals, which has been there for the most part over the past two weeks. But the few mistakes they were making were ending up in the back of the net, and the frustration was starting to boil up.
“Everybody will look at it and interpret things. This is an emotional game,” Vigneault said, his team getting off on Wednesday to travel up the coast. “At the end of the day, I’m telling you, when I break it down and analyze how we’re playing, we’re playing some pretty good hockey. We’re doing a lot of good things.”
The best thing the Rangers had going for them was the play of Lundqvist, and when it drops off on one night, the consequences are clear. When a goalie plays this much, he can’t be razor-sharp every night. And with Lundqvist going to his fourth All-Star game once this trip ends, and with the standings so tight, it’s not like things are shaping up for a ton of rest.
They’re going to need him to be better than he was Tuesday, and he’s going to need them to be better than they were in front of him for almost three months. It surely is a team game, and together is the only way the Rangers are going to make a run at the postseason.
“He’s been our MVP all year long,” Vigneault said, “and I know he’s going to bounce back.”