The King is fine.
New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist told reporters after practice Monday that his shoulder is fine and that he will definitely be in net as his team looks to cut into the Boston Bruins’ 2-0 series lead on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s under control,” Lundqvist told NHL.com. “I landed on the ice awkwardly and it hurt a little bit. It’s under control.”
He sustained what looked like a left-shoulder injury when he extended his arm to cover the puck with 4:52 left in the third period.
The Blueshirts’ Swedish goaltender hinted that sitting out, either in practice or in game, was never an option.
“Everybody is sore,” Lundqvist said. “It’s the playoffs; you can’t just sit out if it’s hurting a little bit. It happens and you just have to make sure you maintain and you do the right things to keep it good.”
Bruins’ D corps still banged up
Boston Bruins defenceman Dennis Seidenberg continues to get closer to game action, according to head coach Claude Julien, but is not expected to play in Game 3.
The native of Germany has been out since apparently hurting his leg during his first shift in Game 7 in Round 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Wade Redden, who is suffering from an undisclosed injury, is considered closer to a return and may still play in Game 3, according to Julien. Should he be available, the Bruins’ coaching staff will have to decide to sit one of their rookies — Torey Krug, Matt Bartkowski or Dougie Hamilton — all of whom have been solid as fill-ins.
“(It’s feeling) not too bad,” Redden told ESPN.com. “It’s day-to-day still. I’ve got to talk with (the medical staff) and see where we’re at, but it’s progressing good.”
Still no moves like Jagr
Bruins forward Jaromir Jagr continues to be goalless in the 2013 postseason, spanning nine games thus far.
The future Hall of Famer has 78 goals and 193 points in 189 career playoff games, but his fit with the Bruins has been questioned since his acquisition from the Dallas Stars on April 2.
Game Preview
GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Don’t judge the New York Rangers by the scores of their two losses to the Boston Bruins.
According to coach John Tortorella, the Rangers played much better in the Game 2 blowout than in their overtime defeat in the series opener.
The bottom line is this: for the second consecutive series, New York has dug an 0-2 hole on the road and will need to rebound quickly at Madison Square Garden if the club hopes to extend this postseason run.
“The first game, the score doesn’t indicate the game,” Tortorella said Monday. “We probably should’ve lost by more.”
The Rangers returned to practice one day before they will host the Bruins in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series. New York was looking to shake off its 5-2 loss on Sunday while focusing on the task at hand.
“After watching the tape, which always helps me the next day one way or another,” Tortorella said, “there were a lot of good things.”
Game 4 will also be in New York on Thursday.
In the first round, the Rangers returned home after dropping two games in Washington and evened the series with a pair of wins at the Garden. The home team won every game in that series until New York took Game 7 in a dominating 5-0 decision.
“We know we can’t take them lightly,” forward Brad Marchand said Monday after the Bruins practiced in Boston. “We’ve got to make sure we go to New York being very hungry and ready to go out hard.”
History is hardly on the Rangers’ side. New York is 2-19 in series it trailed 0-2, and no NHL team has won consecutive series after losing the first two games.
“You don’t want to be down 2-0,” Tortorella said. “We know what hole we’re in, but by no means is this a really bad thing. We need to win a game and try to get momentum on our side.
“Last year, we had to win a couple in a row and we were going back and forth with wins and losses. We’ve been in this situation for a long time the past couple of years. I am not worried about that. I just want to make sure we correct the things we need to correct, and I think we’ll be OK.”
The Bruins are also well aware they still have plenty of work to do to reach the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in three seasons.
Boston led Toronto 3-1 in the first round before being forced to Game 7. The Bruins then staged a three-goal comeback in the third period of the decisive game to get to overtime. Patrice Bergeron scored the tying and winning goals to help the Bruins survive and advance.
The last thing they want to do now is give the Rangers a chance to seize momentum.
“It’s about realizing the series is not over until you win that fourth game. We know that,” Bergeron said. “We know (Tuesday) is going to be a huge game. They’re going to try to bounce back, and we’re expecting them to come out really hard. We need to make sure we match that.
“It’s going to be in their building so we’re expecting them to come out with a lot of energy and feed off the crowd.”
The Rangers are banking on the same thing. New York won three games at home against Washington, and figures to need three more against Boston to get out of this round.
Star forward Rick Nash netted his long-awaited first postseason goal with the Rangers on Sunday. If that gets him going on a roll, New York’s outlook will appear that much brighter.
“I’d rather trade that goal in for a win, so it doesn’t matter,” Nash said. “Anytime you play at home it seems like you create that energy off the fans. If you look at the good teams around the league – and they are the teams that don’t need it – there is no excuses. It shouldn’t make a difference whether we are home or on the road.”
One key factor for the Rangers is the play – and health – of goalie Henrik Lundqvist. He was back on the ice Monday after his rough game on Sunday, in which he also appeared to injure a shoulder.
He was no worse for wear during and following the hour-long practice.
“Everybody is sore,” he said.
Before Sunday, Lundqvist hadn’t allowed five goals in 151 consecutive games, dating to a 5-2 loss at Anaheim on March 9, 2011. He also had never yielded more than three goals in any of his 31 previous games against the Bruins, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Lundqvist gave up 12 total goals in the first five games of the first-round series versus the Capitals before shutting them out in Games 6 and 7. Boston has already registered eight goals against him.
“It’s disappointing to give up five goals, but positioning-wise and reading the plays for the most part was good,” Lundqvist said. “They made some good plays, too, and then there were some unlucky bounces and screens.
“I could probably find excuses for the goals, but it’s not going to help my game. I just have to try to be better and work even harder to see pucks.”
Tortorella chalked up some of Boston’s goals to “simple coverage” mistakes by his team – errors he said were uncharacteristic and fixable.
“It doesn’t bother me, it surprises me a little bit,” he said. “We beat ourselves. I am not disrespecting Boston by any means. We hurt ourselves in our play away from the puck, and I think that is one of the biggest strengths we have.”
The Bruins also expect to see the best of the Rangers once the series shifts to New York.
“We always worry about the other team. We need to worry about ourselves,” Boston coach Claude Julien said. “When we play well, we’re a good team and we give ourselves a chance to win.
“We need to understand they’re going to be better. We also need to be better.”
