Lundqvist (42 saves) blanks Bruins
Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers stops a shot in the first period against the Boston Bruins. (Feb. 14, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
BOSTON -- Maybe if his name was "Lin-qvist", he'd get more notice in New York.
Henrik Lundqvist, with a career-high 42 saves and his league-leading seventh shutout, was perfect Tuesday night in a 3-0 blanking of the Bruins in a game in which the Rangers were outshot, 42-20.
For his effort, Lundqvist was handed the Broadway Hat to wear postgame, but somehow that wasn't enough for coach John Tortorella.
"Henrik should have six hats on tonight," he said. "It was a game we needed him. Jeez, he was absolutely fantastic."
The victory lifted the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers, who were sloppy and tired playing their fourth game in six nights, to a nine-point lead over the Bruins. Boston has lost four of its last six games.
"It means we're doing a lot of good things right now," Lundqvist said. "To be No. 1 end of the year is not our goal. Our goal is to keep playing until June, so we have to keep improving our game."
It is difficult to imagine how much Lundqvist can improve.
Consider this: In his last eight games, Lundqvist is 7-1-0 and has not given up more than two goals in any of the eight. He improved to 18-5-2 (with six shutouts) against Boston in his career.
When the Bruins pressed in the third period, holding the Rangers to three shots, Lundqvist stopped all 18 shots, capping the bravura performance by thwarting David Krejci on a power-play breakaway with 32 seconds left.
"I like the type of games when both teams are battling a lot in front of the net," Lundqvist said. "I kind of feed from the players, working that hard and being physical, paying the price in front of me. Also knowing that Boston is a team that's not going to give up much, so I personally have to be sharp. I pretty much know I can't give up more than two goals."
So the Rangers roll on. With a record of 37-13-5 (79 points) they have won eight of 10 and are 20-5-1 in their last 26.
Ryan Callahan opened the scoring, getting his sixth goal in four games and tying his career high in goals with 23 on a power play at 10:09 of the first.
Scoring with the man advantage has been instrumental for the Rangers. They are 18-1-2 in games in which they have a power-play goal.
Ryan McDonagh increased the lead to 2-0, throwing a shot from the left point on net that banked in off Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara with 11.8 seconds left for his second goal in two games.
After a scoreless second period, the Rangers made it 3-0 in the third. With the teams skating four on four, Artem Anisimov scored his 10th of the season at 2:53 on a rush down the right side. He used a little pump fake and fired the puck into the far corner past Tim Thomas.
"I think they won more battles than we did tonight, especially in their own end," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "They're playing well. They grind you down and they don't give you much and whenever you give them an opportunity, they pounce. That's the kind of identity we're looking for again."
Notes & quotes:
Ruslan Fedotenko, who missed the previous two games after being blindsided to the jaw by Tampa Bay's Dominic Moore on Thursday, practiced yesterdayTuesday morning and said he was "feeling better," but did not dress. It is unclear whether he will play against Chicago tomorrowThursday at Madison Square Garden.
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