Henrik keeping the Rangers afloat

The Rangers took to the Madison Square Garden ice tonight coming off a 3-1 home win Monday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Coming into tonight, the Rangers were still yet to win consecutive games during the young 2007-2008 season and their overall record stood at 4-6-1. Entering the season, the Broadway Blueshirts were a popular choice to eventually represent the Eastern Conference in the battle for Lord Stanley's Cup. On paper it certainly seemed that way. New York was coming off 2 straight playoff appearances, and in the offseason they added the offensive talents of centers Chris Drury and Scott Gomez. The newcomers in addition to captain Jaromir Jagr and top-line scorers Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka were supposed to form a formidable scoring attack. However despite a high payroll filled with scoring threats, the Rangers have struggled to find the net in the early stages of the season. In fact, coming into tonight, New York had the lowest amount of goals in the entire NHL at just 19 in 11 games. The only reason the Rangers have managed to stay afloat has been due to the stellar play of Vezina Award candidate Henrik Lundqvist in net.

Tonight's game against the Washington Capitals was no different. Washington is a team that is typically easy to gameplan against. They feature 2 top scoring lines, and 2 checking lines that get limited ice time. Their top line includes veteran center Viktor Kozlov and superstar Alexander Ovechkin and the second scoring line features former Ranger Michael Nylander and the up and coming Alexander Semin. The key to beating teams structured with 2 elite lines rather than 3 or 4 deep lines, is puck control. The Rangers gameplan was likely to try to control the puck for as long as possible while the Ovechkin line was on the ice by matching the Jagr line up against them. By doing so, the Rangers hoped to keep the puck in the Cap's zone and limit the shots on King Henrik.

Unfortunately the Rangers have not been able to do this all season. They have been outshot in practically every game. Tonight Washington also outshot the Rangers, putting 31 on Lundqvist including 6 from Alex Ovechkin (so much for limiting his touches). But just as he always does, Henrik Lundqvist once again stood on his head for New York. He saved all 31 shots he faced, including an awesome pad stop late in the 2nd period that robbed Viktor Kozlov of a goal. Lundqvist tacked on his second shutout of the season, as the Rangers were able to scrounge for 2 goals. Free agent addition Chris Drury scored early in the 2nd period, assisted by Shanahan and rookie defenseman phenom Marc Staal. It was only the talented Drury's second goal of the season, and first since opening night. The Rangers second goal came on the powerplay midway through the 3rd period from their top defensemen Michal Rozsival, this time assisted by both free agent additions- Chris Drury and Scott Gomez.

As I said, the Rangers currently have the least goals in the league, however they have also let up the least. One might attribute this to stingy defensive play, but not when Lundqvist has still faced the 6th most shots in the entire NHL. Henrik currently boasts a .930 save percentage and a paper thin 1.82 goals against average. Such credentials are typical of a Vezina Award winner (best regular season goalie). Last season Lundqvist finished third in the Vezina voting to the Devil's Martin Brodeur and the Canuck's Roberto Luongo. However the Rangers' anemic offense this season has prevented Lundqvist from gathering up the Ws early, which is a key statistic toward winning the award. Award or no award, Henrik Lundqvist is the reason the Rangers aren't winless this season.

Take tonight for example. New York still only netted 2 goals. On average, that is not enough to win a hockey game. The Rangers have only scored more than 2 goals in 2 of their 12 games this season. Yet they still have 5 Ws and 1 OT. This is evidence of Henrik Lundqvist's contribution to his team this year. He practically IS the team. I personally believe the Rangers will eventually find their stride offensively this season. They simply have too much offensive talent not to. Its all about finding the right combinations. And perhaps the iminent return of Sean Avery will provide a spark just as it did when the Rangers acquired him at the trade deadline last season from the Los Angeles Kings. Perhaps it will come when Martin Straka and Ryan Callahan return to the lineup in a couple of weeks. While I believe that it will happen eventually, for now all the Rangers can do is lean on their outstanding netminder. Long live Henrik Lundqvist, the King of Sweden.