NEW YORK — Henrik Lundqvist is human. The Tampa Bay Lightning are trying to remind themselves of that fact.
Goals are not easy to come by in the playoffs, especially when you’re facing a goalie with a .945 save percentage. So as the Lightning prepared for Game 2 at Madison Square Garden on Monday, they did all they could to ignore the ominous shadow occupying the New York Rangers crease.
“I think the one thing you have to combat is the aura,” said coach Jon Cooper.
Lundqvist has that, just as Carey Price did in the last round. When facing goalies of that calibre, there is a danger of thinking too much and trying to create perfect plays.
Of course, hockey is not a game of perfect. The Rangers won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final when Dominic Moore had a shot deflect in off his right shin pad.
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“If you stick to your principles — any time you continually get traffic, your shot attempts are up, your shots on net are up — eventually pucks are going to go in for you,” said Cooper. “There might be some greasy ones, but you need some of those to go in before you score the picture perfect ones. I just didn’t think we were doing that enough.
“He was seeing way too many pucks.”
With this being the Year of the Goalie in the NHL, that is no recipe for success. These have been the 2-1 playoffs — nine of the New York’s 13 games have ended with that score this spring — so every goal must be cherished like a rare jewel.
If there’s a player on Tampa you’d expect to unearth one, it’s Steven Stamkos. He’s been held to three goals this post-season, but is the NHL’s second-best goal-scorer over the last five years combined.
“I think in order for me to have the success I’ve had over my career, I’m going to give him my best look, my best shot,” the Lightning captain said. “And then I believe that I can beat him with that shot. You have to have that mentality.”
The Lightning were keeping any potential lineup changes close to the vest. Brian Boyle skated after missing Game 1 with an undisclosed injury, but all Cooper would say about his status is that “the update is there is no update.”
There was a positive development for the Rangers with Mats Zuccarello getting in a skate on Monday morning. He’s been out since taking a Ryan McDonagh slapshot to the side of the head in the first round and appears to be inching closer to a return.
New York has become accustomed to playing in tight games during the playoff run and was anticipating another one. Amazingly, every single one of their games has been decided by one goal so far.
“I don’t think you can win in the NHL on a consistent basis if you cannot play in these situations,” said coach Alain Vigneault. “Teams are so close. There is so little separating us that most games are tight games.”
Lundqvist is a big reason why they’ve been so successful.
The King has taken his play to an even higher level than in the past, surrendering more than two goals just twice in these playoffs. However, the Lightning still believe that he is beatable.
“It’s a reactionary sport,” said Stamkos. “Henrik Lundqvist isn’t going to be at (the same) angle of his crease every time. In those three clips you showed me he might have been, but this next time that I go down he may be half a foot off.
“Then there’s that low blocker side or there’s that high glove side.”
At least they have some good vibes after knocking Price and the Montreal Canadiens out of the playoffs last week. According to Cooper, they “exorcised some demons” in doing so.
They may also have experienced a small letup following that victory and need to return to the puck possession game that brought success throughout the season.
“We just played Montreal and Carey was the best goalie this year,” said Tampa defenceman Anton Stralman. “We found a way on him. I don’t think we’re looking to do anything extraordinary to beat Hank.
“It’s about playing our game, putting a lot of shots on him and make sure we challenge him.”
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The Lightning were surprisingly hard on themselves despite losing the opener by one goal. Cooper said he wanted to “vomit” while re-watching the tape and Stamkos said the team “played like crap.”
Down to the final four chasing the Stanley Cup, they don’t want to let this opportunity pass them by.
“You don’t get many chances to get at this stage in the playoffs,” said Stamkos. “We have to have a belief that this is our year. We need to play better.”
And hope that Lundqvist is human after all.
