By Larry Brooks
May 14, 2014
Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins moves the puck in front of Henrik Lundqvist #30 and Derek Stepan #21 of the New York Rangers in Game Seven of the Second Round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Consol Energy Center on May 13, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH — George Bernard Shaw famously observed that some men see things as they are and say why.
Henrik Lundqvist entered the playoffs asking: “Why not?”
Two days before the Rangers opened the first round against Philadelphia, Brad Richards recounted a team meeting during which The King was as vocal as anyone.
“Hank was saying, ‘Why not us?’ ” Richards told The Post. “ ‘Why can’t we be the ones to win the Stanley Cup?’ ”
Two rounds and two Game 7 victories later, the second of which came by a 2-1 score over the Penguins on Tuesday to cap the greatest postseason comeback in franchise history, there does not seem to be a reason why not.
There does not seem to be a reason why the proud, resilient and resurgent Rangers — who have advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in the last three years where they will face either the Bruins or Canadiens — cannot become the first team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup after playing 14 games through the first two rounds of the tournament.
Well, reasons might lurk in Boston, Montreal, Anaheim, Los Angeles and Chicago, but let’s not be so quick to rain on the parade.
Let’s not be so quick to rain on any parade for which Lundqvist — 5-0 in Game 7’s the last three years, winning by 2-1, 2-1, 5-0, 2-1 and 2-1 — is on the lead float.
“He’s played like the nickname he’s carried,” said Martin St. Louis, whose nifty centering feed set up his old buddy Brad Richards for the game-winning 2-1 power-play goal at 7:46 of the second period. “The King.”
The Blueshirts have hit their stride. Galvanized by the passing of St. Louis’ mother, France, last Thursday, the Rangers will roar into either Boston or Montreal with three straight victories since dropping three of the first four games of this series.
But for all of the emotion the Rangers invested in this comeback, it was Lundqvist who rose to the heights, making 35 saves while his team was outshot 36-20 and out-attempted 63-34 at even strength. It was Lundqvist, now 10-2 in potential elimination games the last three years, who surrendered one goal in each of the final three victories.
“When we were up 2-1 going into the third period, we had a lot of confidence with Hank back there and with the way we know how to play defense,” said Marc Staal, outstanding in 22:40. “But then that scramble in front with about five minutes to go … seriously, those were the three or four biggest I’ve seen him make since I’ve been here.
“They were massive.”
There were just over 5:00 on the clock when Lundqvist fought through traffic to deny James Neal and Evgeni Malkin from around the net. With fury surrounding him, the King lost his stick. It was then that Paul Martin swooped in for a backhand with bodies down and now two sticks somehow on the ice just in front of the crease.
“Chaos,” Lundqvist called it.
Out of that chaos, Martin took a backhand from the slot that ticked off a stick and ricocheted up, heading for the net … until Lundqvist somehow trapped it between his body and his arm while Malkin attempted to pitchfork him and the puck into the cage.
“I almost started laughing when it hit the stick,” said The King. “It was bad luck but then I had luck.”
Luck, pluck. This was a case of the right man being in the right spot at the right time. This was a case of Lundqvist and the Blueshirts playing Game 7. This was a case of Rangers’ Time.
The Rangers were hemmed in their own zone for much of the match, but they yielded nothing to Sidney Crosby, who could not get the job done and who was an ordinary player in each of the final three defeats. When pinned, the Blueshirts packed it in and protected the house.
Protected the King’s Castle as best they possibly could.
“You know what? They were coming really hard,” said Lundqvist. “I tried not to think about results. … I saw it as a challenge and just focus on doing the right things.”
Challenge accepted.
The Rangers are not a perfect union. But they do get the most of their abilities and they don’t leave anything to chance. Seriously, Rick Nash may be 0-for-14 in the playoffs, but there is no faulting the effort of No. 61, who was credited with four more hits in Game 7, running his playoff total to 21 after recording all of 11 hits in 65 regular-season games.
“It’s all of us,” said Lundqvist. “My teammates and me.”
When it was over, when the Blueshirts had pulled it off and the Penguins had lost their third Game 7 at home in the last five years and had blown their second 3-1 series lead within the last four years, Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero stopped into the Rangers’ executive suite to congratulate GM Glen Sather.
Now Shero and the Penguins ponder the future while Sather and the Rangers play in the present. The Rangers are onto the conference finals.
Ten years ago, Richards and St. Louis combined to win a Stanley Cup in Tampa Bay. Now, a decade later, these best friends combined to give the Rangers a chance to win the Cup that is half full.
Why not?
Why not, indeed.
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