New York Rangers’ starting goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, finally defeats Tampa Bay Lightning’ starting goaltender, Ben Bishop, for the first time yesterday.
New York Rangers
New York Rangers‘ starting goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, has accomplished pretty much all you can accomplish as a starting goaltender in the NHL throughout his 10 year career except win a Stanley Cup. Well, that and defeat Tampa Bay Lightning‘s starting goaltender Ben Bishop.
Going into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals yesterday afternoon, between the Rangers and Lightning, Bishop sported a very impressive 8-0 record with a 1.49 goals against average vs. the Rangers in his career. However, after Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Bishop’s undefeated streak against the Rangers finally ended at the hands of Lundqvist.
Now granted, any hockey matchup is not necessarily goaltender vs. goaltender, or in this particular case Lundqvist vs. Bishop. Instead, any hockey matchup is really the goaltender vs. the opponent’s offense. That being said though, some exceptions can be made along the way and Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Rangers and the Lightning, or Lundqvist vs. Bishop, is a prime example.
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals yesterday afternoon was not about Lundqvist vs. the Lightning’s offense and Bishop vs. the Rangers’ offense. Game 1 was all about Lundqvist vs. Bishop, as both starting goaltenders stole the show in a game that favored Lundqvist in the end, as the Rangers won Game 1, and finally beat Bishop, by a final score of 2-1.
Lundqvist made 23 saves out of 24 Lightning shots in the Game 1 win and Bishop made 28 saves out of 30 Lightning shots in the Game 1 loss.
Here is Lundqvist using his patented header save off of a deflection from Lightning’s forward, Valtteri Filppula in the 2nd period of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals:
And here is Bishop robbing Rangers’ center, Derek Stepan, with his arm on a breakaway in the 1st period of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals:
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All in all, just a great performance from both goaltenders, but the good news for the Rangers and us fans is that Lundqvist was finally able to lead the Rangers to a win vs. Bishop and the Lightning. The bad news, however, is that this was only Game 1 and Lundqvist and the Rangers have to beat Bishop 3 more times in this best of 7 series in order to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. This will definitely be a daunting task for Lundqvist and the Rangers since Game 1 was only the first time in Bishop’s entire career that he lost a game to the Rangers.
Next: New York Rangers' Derek Stepan's Game One vs. Lightning (Video)
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