Henrik Lundqvist pitches back-to-back shutouts

Blanking the Washington Capitals in Game 6 at Madison Square Garden was one thing.

Being able to repeat that performance, on enemy ice, in Monday night's Game 7 of an NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal series was a whole other animal for Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

"We gained a lot of confidence in the way we played at home," Lundqvist said after turning back all 35 shots in a 5-0 victory. "Coming in today, I thought we felt really good about ourselves because we played really well [Sunday] and the last few games in this building we were close. We lost in overtime [in Game 5] and felt like it was time for us to get that win."

Although it was the eighth career playoff shutout for the 31-year-old Swede, playing in his seventh postseason campaign for the Rangers, history was not necessarily on his side.

Lundqvist had gone 1-5 in games following his previous six playoff shutouts. He'd lost 10 of his last 11 games at Washington and the Rangers were 0-5 in playoff Game 7s on the road.

But in this series, the only numbers that mattered were that Lundqvist stopped 241 of 253 shots, including all 62 he saw with his team's back to the wall in Games 6 and 7. In doing so, he became the first NHL goalie to post shutouts in Games 6 and 7 since Dominik Hasek did it for Detroit in 2002.

Along the way, he blanked the league's leading scorer, Alex Ovechkin, in the last five games, limiting him to one goal on 30 shots for the series. No player had more shots. No player was turned away more often. Of course, the Rangers' defense chipped in, holding Ovechkin to just one shot on goal Monday night.

"I thought [Ovechkin] played really well," Lundqvist said. "He had a lot of chances. I felt like I was in position for a lot of his shots. You have to be, because he shoots so well and it's so hard. If you're out of position or a little late, he'll make you pay."

Monday night, Lundquist was at his best when the pressure was on. He turned back all 13 shots in the first period, making arguably his biggest save on Mike Green, just before Arron Asham scored the Rangers' first goal of the night.

"To come up with the save and we score right after, it was a great feeling," Lundqvist said. "You want to get the lead and put more pressure on them and I think that goal set them on their heels a little bit. In a game like this, you're obviously looking for a great start and I thought we set the tone in the first [period]."

By the time the Rangers extended their lead to 3-0 after two periods, Lundqvist had stopped 26 shots -- one fewer than he'd turned aside in Sunday's 1-0 shutout.

Leading 5-0, he preserved his shutout, sprawling to stop Jay Beagle on his doorstep.

"He made a lot of great saves," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. "They protect him. That's kind of how they are designed."

Lundqvist praised his defense and his defense did the same.

"Anything is possible with Henrik back there," defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "He stands tall, he competes so hard and it's great to see guys willing to block shots. He really respects that and honors that and recognizes that."

Lundqvist was not surprised by the team's resilience, even after they fell behind in the series, 3-2.

"We were playing well. We felt we could turn this around," he said. "I thought the key to the last few games was the discipline. We didn't let their power play come out on the ice. That's when they really feel good about their game. That's when they score the most goals, too. That was key."