This was a glimpse back to previous years of normalcy, with Henrik Lundqvist under the Broadway Hat, smiling and talking about the good defensive play of those in front of him.
But oh, how close this was to turning the other way, to snowballing on top of the first two losses to start the regular season. And oh, how perilous it still seems, Lundqvist and the Rangers having slipped before stabilizing, catching a few good breaks and eventually shutting out the Canadiens 2-0 on Sunday night at the Garden to collect their first victory of the season.
“It was very important to bounce back for all of us, and the way we won the game — this is how we have to play,” said Lundqvist, who stopped all 34 shots he saw — or, at least, those that didn’t go by him and then were taken off the boards via official review or coach’s challenge.
Lundqvist was coming off one of the worst performances of his career Saturday night in Toronto, getting pulled after the first period while giving up five goals on 17 shots. This game against the Canadiens was supposed to be the first start of the season for new backup Ondrej Pavelec, but he was forced into relief duty to start the second period in Saturday’s 8-5 loss.
The Rangers’ defense and decision-making looked woefully suspect throughout that game, as well as in most of the empty-net abated 4-2 loss to the Avalanche in the regular-season opener Thursday. It hardly looked any different through the first 10 minutes of this one.
But the game changed when the Rangers caught two breaks, as two Canadiens’ goals were rightfully pulled off the board. The first was by official review for Andrew Shaw kicking the puck in off Lundqvist’s pads, and the second was via a coach’s challenge from Alain Vigneault for goalie interference on Max Pacioretty.
“Sometimes, maybe you are waiting for a break,” said Lundqvist, who was red-hot when Shaw’s kick-in was first called a goal at 6:24 of the first period. “A lot of times you need to earn it by working hard and making good decisions. But when you feel like things are moving in the right direction, I feel like maybe everybody just took a deep breath and said, ‘All right, let’s play our game here and let’s not try to do too much.’ That goes for me, as well.”
From there, the Blueshirts really did settle down. All of the strife of these first days of the season seemed to fade late in the first period when Brady Skjei sent a puck towards the net and watched it bounce in off the skate of Montreal defenseman Shea Weber and past goalie Carey Price. That gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead — their first lead of the season.
Suddenly, all those pucks that were bouncing hard off Lundqvist’s chest and pads were being swallowed. Suddenly, he found all the pucks at his feet — and if he didn’t, a defenseman did. Suddenly, the Canadiens stopped getting odd-man rushes, and the Rangers started making better decisions with the puck.
“Hank’s going to do what he does, it’s our job to figure out our game in front of him,” said Marc Staal, a stout force since being put on the first defensive pair with Ryan McDonagh midway through the Toronto game. “Whether he’s in the zone or not, he was have to play a solid defensive game in front of him and give him a chance. We did that better as the game when on.”
A little deeper breath was taken at 9 minutes 13 seconds of the second period, when Mika Zibanejad continued his torrid start with his fourth goal in three games (and first at even strength), burying one after a great pass by Pavel Buchnevich from behind the net. That made it 2-0, and it was all Lundqvist and the Rangers needed to get off the schneid and feel normal, if only for a short time.
“I just try to believe in my game,” Lundqvist said. “Believe in your game plan and when you stick to it and execute it the way you should, we’ll be in good shape.”