When the New York Rangers signed goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to a seven-year, $59.5 million extension, they had performances like the one he delivered last night in mind.
Lundqvist was perfect through 47 minutes against the Buffalo Sabres when Cody Hodgson rushed towards him on a breakaway. At the time, the Rangers only had a 1-0 lead on the strength of Rick Nash’s first period goal.
The Rangers goaltender managed to knock Hodgson off balance as he charged the goal, which both disrupted Hodgson’s attempted shot and led to the Sabres forward tripping Nash. Brad Richards buried the insurance goal during the subsequent power play en route to a 3-1 victory for New York.
You can view that play below:
Lundqvist described it as a perfect scenario for a goaltender while Rangers coach Alain Vigneault called him “an elite goaltender who comes up big at the right time,” according to Newsday.
The Rangers have to hope that the 31-year-old goaltender has many years worth of games like that one left in his tank.
