The Rangers saw the returns of Henrik Lunqdvist and Rick Nash last night, and both shined in the 2-0 blanking of the Dallas Stars. Lundqvist got the shutout, Nash the shorthanded game winner, but the game itself will be known for Cody Eakin’s attempted regicide. Eakin showed no intent of stopping or slowing down, barreling over Hank while he was behind the net. Eakin was ejected and given a five minute major (in which the Rangers did not capitalize).
The hit was very clearly dirty. Eakin did not try to stop, lowered his shoulder, and aimed for Lundqvist’s head. Lundqvist was down for a while, and left the game for a period of time. Antti Raanta played 5:31, and wasn’t forced to make any saves before Hank returned. Aside from the hit, there was a lot of back and forth action, with both Lundqvist and Antti Niemi playing stellar games.
On to the goals:
Rangers 1, Stars 0
Welcome back Rick Nash. Nash anticipated the cross-ice pass from Jamie Benn at the blue line. What a release on the shorthanded breakaway.
Rangers 2, Stars 0
Mats Zuccarello empty netter. Ends a 14 game goal scoring drought.
Even Strength Corsi
The Rangers controlled play early, even before Eakin tried to kill Hank. But in the second, Dallas tilted the ice in their favor. Lundqvist is the only reason why the Rangers were in it after the first period. Then again, Niemi is the only reason why Dallas was in it all game.
Even Strength Scoring Chances
Considering all the times we held our collective breaths while the Stars got good chances or screamed at the TV when Niemi made a good save, the scoring chance numbers weren’t that high for either team. That surprised me a little bit. There are flaws with the stat, so that plays into it, but I would’ve expected it to be higher.
It’s good to see the return of the normal Lundqvist. The Rangers are going to need him at his best going forward. Let’s also breathe a sigh of relief that he wasn’t seriously injured too.
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