God Bless Henrik Lundqvist

Don't tell Henrik Lundqvist the Rangers can't make the playoffs. Lundqvist has emerged as more than a great goalie. He is a great leader. A fiery leader. An outspoken leader. And he is also the man that can beat the great Maaarrrty.

Before Lundqvist arrived Maaarrrty owned the Rangers. He owned a 23 game unbeaten streak against the Rangers (15-0-8). Lundqvist arrived and is (16-4-5) lifetime against Maaarrrty. The win against the Devils was Lundqvist'ds 30th win of the season, a number he has reached in five straight seasons. This is a record for goalies in their five first years in the NHL. Last night he made 35 saves, inluding three out of three in the shootout. Bargain basement acquiree Erik Christensen scored the only shootout goal as Lundqvist stopped Parise, Elias and Zajac for the win.

All this would not have been possible without getting the tying goal from Chris Drury with 17 seconds left in the game. There is history with the Rangers and Maaarrrty and game changing goals. We all remember Matteau, Matteau, Matteau. There was also Graves in 1997 and now, though less significant we have Drury.

So the Rangers continue to hang in there. And yes, while I don't believe it, the Rangers could make the playoffs. The bottom half of the top eight in the East are crumbling. Boston certainly misses Savard and the Flyers have now lost their two regular goalies, one for the year, and have lost their top scorer Jeff Carter. So who knows. The Rangers will not be the first team to back into a playoff, and surely will not be the last.

All hail Henrik Lundqvist, the Maaarrrty killer!

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ICINGS:

Just in case you missed them. There are a couple of great Henrik Lundqvist blogs that cover all things Henrik. The Lunkan-o-sphere has plenty of Princely pictures.

Henrik Lundqvist Hockey Goalie God Blog:

Henrik Lundqvist blog:

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