New York Rangers Lundqvist Leaves Game After Net Toss

The Kings Fit

Last night, the New York Rangers were embarrassed in Pittsburgh. A second period barrage had the Blueshirts down 1-3 with a period left. The game ended 1-4 Penguins.

It is imperative that this loss be brushed off and forgotten quickly, since the Rangers will be in D.C. tonight to take on the league-leading Capitals. However, the temper tantrum Henrik Lundqvist threw in the Second period wont be forgotten any time soon.

As seen here, Ryan McDonagh collided with Lundqvist as the Penguins threatened to score during a two-on-two rush. Due to the collision, Lundqvist lost his stick and was unable to retrieve it before the Penguins regained the zone. As soon as the Penguins looked to shoot on Hank, he turned towards the goal and dislodged it, causing an immediate whistle and delay of game penalty.

Lundqvist’s reasoning for this is not 100% clear, since he refused to engage with media members during post game interviews. Henrik was visibly livid and frustrated with the referees once play was suspended. Apparently, Hank thought the refs should have blown the play dead after McDonagh collided with him.

Lundqvist Spazzes Out

“Never seen him that angry.”

After Lundqvist was penalized, he went to the bench and vented his frustration. Derek Stepan told media members during Lundqvist’s rant, “(He had) never seen him that angry.” However, during this declaration of irritation and incompetence, Vigneault said that Lundqvist never mentioned he was injured.

"“I didn’t know. Nobody knew. I don’t think Hank made it very clear to the referee at that time either, so we knew when we came in for the second (intermission) that he was having issues with his neck there, but at that time (of the injury) we didn’t.”"

Since Henrik never let the trainer or coaches know he was suffering from an injury, he remained in the game. However, there is no telling if this is in fact true.

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The New York Rangers coaching staff definitely would not want to be tagged as the coaching staff that let an extremely well paid, star goalie remain in a game injured. Whether this is true or not doesn’t matter because no one can change what happened and Lundqvist will be sure to roll with the story we have all been told.

When the game picked back up, the Penguins went to work on the New York Rangers. Lundqvist looked like he was auditioning for a career as a Professional Matador, allowing three goals to fly by him within 99 seconds.

Once the period ended, Lundqvist spent the rest of the game on a training table. Vigneault’s reasoning for this was,

"“His neck was spasming up, and [trainer Jim Ramsay] thought the best thing was to keep him off and work on him during the third period, which he did. So I don’t think it’s anything serious, but we wanted to be on the safe side, so we took him out.”"

After the game, the Penguins took to twitter to troll Hank and express their feelings on how he reacted to the referees.

Raanta, The New Talbot

At the start of the third period, Antti Raanta was placed in net and played the remaineder of the game. Raanta played well in the third and didn’t allow the Penguins to score on him. However, Raanta was pulled late in the third to give the New York Rangers a man advantage. This backfired on the Blueshirts as the Penguins were able to record an empty net goal.

The Rangers have played without Hank for an extended period of time before. Talbot filled in for the King last year when Lundqvist suffered a vascular injury. Cam Talbot started 23 out of the 25 games when Lundqvist was injured. Over this period of time, the Blueshirts actually played very well, going 17-4-3.

Vigneault has said he doesn’t think that Henrik’s injury is a serious one, but he also thought that Nash’s bone bruise would pass quickly. With Vigneault’s ability to predict the severity of injuries equivilant to that of a pre-med fraternity boy drunkenly assessing a friends injury, which was sustained shortly after a keg stand, it may be time for Raanta to prepare for the long haul.

Raanta has shown signs of brilliance between the pipes, but playing to give your starter a break and being dubbed the interim starting goal tender are two totally separate beasts. Raanta will have his hands full tonight, as he will be tasked with stopping the best power play in hockey, but he needs to show the Rangers he can be leaned on for extended periods of time. If he cannot prove that, then why would the Rangers want to keep him.

Next: Five Rangers. Four World Cup Teams.

The New York Rangers should not have gotten rid of Talbot and I may be in the minority here, but I still have not sold on Raanta. However, a win in D.C. tonight may change that.