Henrik Lundquist has pitched two no hitters in three games.
During today's matinee game against conference rival New Jersey, he fended off flurries of attacks in the first two periods to keep his team in the game. The Rangers were being outshot 2 or 3 to one by an aggressive Devils team, with a ferocious forecheck that worked so well in the first two playoff rounds.
The peak of Henrik's performance was stoning Ilya Kovalchuk on two breakaways. #17 did not have his best game, taking an early penalty. It was obvious that his composure had been affected, and that's exactly what the Rangers need to do to the opposition's biggest scoring threat.
After two periods of no puck in net, the Devils power play deteriorated. One of the last of five power play opportunities, New Jersey only managed to generate one or two shots on goal. Over the entire game, Zach Parise was held to only three shots.
At the start of the third, the Devils look flat footed. Bryce Salvador took a hooking penalty at 2:11 and the Rangers converted with a PPG at 3:19.
Over the entire game, New Jersey outshot the Rangers 36 - 22. But confronted with Lundquist's hot hand and other shot blocking Rangers, a puck could not find its way into the Ranger net.
Score two for Lundquist and blockey hockey, plus an empty netter in the final two minutes. The Rangers are on top of the Eastern Conference final, two games to one.
Of the four remaining teams, here are the respective records:
LA Kings 11 - 1
NY Rangers 10 - 7
NJ Devils 9 - 6
Phx Coyotes 8 - 6
The eastern conference is still up for grabs, but it is looking more and more like Los Angeles year, even thought they finished 8th in the west. Go figure.
Other hockey news. Now that Evgeny (Gino) Malkin is not playing for the out-to-pasture Pittsburgh Pengs, he is in Helsinki for the World Championships. Today, his hat trick propelled Russia to a semi-final win over host Finland. The Russians face Slovakia in a final game on Sunday. Way to go Gino!
No comments:
Post a Comment