PITTSBURGH — The holiday sickness hit the Rangers’ crease.
Henrik Lundqvist was too ill to make his planned 15th start in a row, instead remaining at the team hotel while Ondrej Pavelec led the Rangers to a 4-3 victory over the Penguins on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
After practicing on Monday in New York and flying here, Lundqvist made it clear how poorly he was feeling and Pavelec knew there was a very good chance he was going to start the game. As to the origin of Lundqvist’s illness, coach Alain Vigneault wasn’t ruling out the team’s holiday party on Sunday night in Manhattan, with over 100 guests in attendance.
“Parties with kids on the weekend — that’ll do it to you,” Vigneault said.
This was only the fourth start of the season for Pavelec, and the first since Oct. 28 in Montreal. He had two relief appearances in the interim, Nov. 15 and Nov. 28. But this was different, and he rose to the occasion while making 41 saves.
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“Weird game,” Pavelec said. “I find out this morning that I’m going to play. I had a lot of time to prepare. I’ve been around for a while, so I know the lineup, that’s a pretty good hockey team. It wasn’t easy, but that’s the way it is. That’s your job. You have to make the most of it. Really glad that I showed myself that I was able to win the game.”
Lundqvist’s status is unclear for Friday’s game in Washington, which starts a stretch of six games in nine nights, so Vigneault was pleased with seeing this performance out of Pavelec.
“I’m happy for him, he’s put in a lot of work. I’m sure that there’s going to be a few more of those to come,” Vigneault said.
Backing up Pavelec was Alexandar Georgiev, who was called up from AHL Hartford on Tuesday morning. The 21-year-old had played 17 games this season for the Wolf Pack, and had a 3.28 goals-against average and .897 save percentage.
To help bolster their depth at goaltender, the team also signed free-agent Marek Mazanec, immediately placing him on waivers for the purpose of sending him to help Hartford. Mazanec, 26, was a sixth-round pick (No. 179 overall) of the Predators in 2012, and was playing in the KHL.
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Wolf Pack goalies, including Georgiev and Chris Nell, had combined for a 3.52 goals-against average and .889 save percentage this season.
As he continues to deal with the delayed onset of concussion symptoms, first-line center Mika Zibanejad stayed in New York and is not expected to join the team in Washington. Vigneault said he had no update besides that Zibanejad is “following the protocol.”
Defenseman Steven Kampfer was the only healthy scratch for the second straight game. His only compatriot for the “extras” skate on Tuesday morning was assistant coach Darryl Williams, with no goalie.