CRISIS FOR KING
LUNDQVIST TORCHED FOR 7 MORE GOALS
So this is what it’s like on the precipice of chaos, huh?
The Rangers are teetering, looking over the edge and wondering what lies below. They are wondering if franchise bedrock Henrik Lundqvist is going to come out of this crisis of confidence and save them, like he has so many times over the past decade.
Or, if games like this absolutely wild 7-6 loss to the Stars on Tuesday night at the Garden are going to become more commonplace, when Lundqvist gave up seven goals on 27 shots before he was replaced by untested understudy Magnus Hellberg to start the third period.
“It’s tough,” said Lundqvist, who has now allowed 16 goals on 76 shots over his last seven periods, headlining this current three-game losing streak that has sourly taken the Rangers (28-16-1) out of their five-day bye week.
“I feel like it’s embarrassing, frustrating and disappointing at the same time,” said Lundqvist, who has now given up four or more goals in six of his past eight games.
Lundqvist rightfully shouldered the blame for a few of the goals the Stars (19-19-8) scored, but so much of it was a product of the Rangers’ putrid defense. They were leaving enormous swaths of ice open — up in the high slot, low slot, and most alarmingly, in front of the net.
The Stars were coming in waves, and Lundqvist was discombobulated. He looked it most when he lost sight of the puck behind the net and Patrick Sharp easily scored on a wrap-around at 12:54 of the second period, giving Dallas a 5-3 lead just 48 seconds after the Rangers had turned a 4-1 deficit into 4-3 with goals from Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich.
“I’ve been here a long time, and those first two periods, that’s very embarrassing,” said alternate captain Dan Girardi. “To leave our goalie out to dry on a lot of those, that’s disappointing for us.”
And yet somehow, with Lundqvist on the bench and with Hellberg in net to start the third, the Rangers’ newly invigorated offense pushed. Within a span of 4:15, Chris Kreider got a power- play goal, Derek Stepan got his second of the night, and Zibanejad, in his first game since he broke his leg on Nov. 20, got his second as well. The Rangers had cut Dallas’ lead to 7-6, setting up a breathtaking final 12 minutes when they just couldn’t punch the tying goal through, despite chasing the Stars’ starter, Antti Niemi, who was replaced by Kari Lehtonen.
“It shouldn’t take us an embarrassment, beating, or whatever you want to call it, to get ourselves to play with some pace and energy,” said captain Ryan McDonagh. “Individually here, and as a team, we’ve got to find a way to come out with a jump and come out with that intensity.”
Strangely enough then, Stepan got his first of the game just 27 seconds in to take a 1-0 lead — and then the Stars got goals from Patrick Eaves and Sharp in a span of 12 seconds, and another from Jamie Benn before the first ended to take a 3-1 lead. The second period started with more of the same, a goal from Antoine Roussel to make it 4-1, and later in the period, Sharp, Adam Cracknell and Cody Eakin all beat Lundqvist to make it 7-3.
“We were all scratching heads, trying to figure out what was going in the first two periods,” Girardi said. “We left the slot wide open and we left Hanky out to dry.”
Coach Alain Vigneault did not hesitate to say Lundqvist was going to start the next match in Toronto on Thursday. With regular backup Antti Raanta likely out through the All-Star break at the end of this month with a lowerbody injury, and with this being Hellberg’s third career NHL game (no starts), the Rangers don’t really have another option except to hope that Lundqvist figures it out.
“He’s going to play, he’s going to try real hard, and we’re going to try to play better in front of him,” Vigneault said. “This is a team. We’re all going to stick with one another and do what we can to get out of this.”
If they are able to get out, it’s going to be Lundqvist to lead them. But right now, as he said, “It’s definitely a low point.”