Rangers lose to Ducks in shootout
The New York Rangers take on the Anaheim Ducks in Stockholm. Credit: Getty Images
STOCKHOLM -- Much to the delight of the Swedish fans who chanted "Let's go, Rangers" and "Henrik, Henrik" Saturday night at the Globe Arena, Henrik Lundqvist once again delivered a spectacular effort in goal.
In a shootout involving a murderers' row of Anaheim Ducks snipers -- league MVP Corey Perry, captain Ryan Getzlaf and Finnish star Teemu Selanne -- Lundqvist was poised, preventing all three from scoring.
But an unusual shot by Bobby Ryan in the fourth round of the shootout beat Lundqvist, resulting in the Rangers' 2-1 loss. Ryan almost whiffed on the wrist shot and the puck trickled under the surprised goalie.
The Rangers leave Stockholm without a win, but they did earn two points in the standings.
"It's really frustrating," Lundqvist said. "I felt confident going into the shootout and I was patient. I read that last shot high, he missed and it went low."
For the Rangers, Erik Christensen, Brad Richards, Mats Zuccarello and Artem Anisimov failed on their penalty shots against Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller.
Rangers coach John Tortorella had nothing but praise for Lundqvist's efforts in Europe in a journey that began for the Rangers on Sept. 27 in Prague.
"He had just a great trip,'' Tortorella said. "With some of the distractions and things going around him, he was fantastic."
"I still have some work to do to get my game where I want it to be,'' Lundqvist said, "but I'm getting more comfortable."
After more than 57 minutes of offensive woes and only 14 shots on goal by the Rangers, Richards came through with a clutch goal late in the third period, roofing a shot from close range to tie it at 1. It was his first goal as a Ranger. Defenseman Ryan McDonagh picked up the only assist by keeping the puck inside the blue line and putting a pass on Richards' stick.
"It was good to score. We needed a goal, obviously, to get that point and have a chance to win the game," Richards said. "It was pretty frustrating all game. We had a lot of power plays and nothing was working."
The game was a highly physical, often sloppy and penalty-filled contest. The Rangers went 0-for-7 on the power play and Anaheim was 0-for-6.
Lundqvist once again was the rock that kept the Rangers in contention, stopping 27 of 28 Ducks shots and making numerous huge saves in the second and third periods.
Anaheim forward Andrew Cogliano scored the lone goal of the first two periods, converting a pass from Andrew Gordon at 9:26 of the first.
Ducks goalie Hiller stopped 14 of 15 Rangers shots in the victory.
The game concluded a 12-day European adventure for the Rangers, entailing travel through four countries, four exhibition games and overtime and shootout losses to Los Angeles and Anaheim.
For Lundqvist, who played his first-ever NHL games in his native Sweden and a memorable exhibition game against his former Swedish club in Gothenburg, it was a rewarding trip despite the disappointing losses.
"For me personally, going on this trip has been special, a lot of emotions and something I'll remember for the rest of my life," Lundqvist said. "I think a lot of the guys look forward to going back to New York, but they still will bring back a lot of good memories."
Tortorella was a little bit more blunt in his assessment of the nearly two-week journey away from home.
"I just want to leave. It's enough," he said. "We've met some great people, played in some great buildings, and the crowds have been fantastic. But ideal for training camp, I don't know. We want to get the hell out of here and get back and practice in our own facility."
The Rangers don't play again until Saturday, when they face the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.
