Henrik Lundqvist has never before beaten the Canucks, but
given how he delivered last time out, that inaugural victory might be coming
Tuesday night.
Lundqvist will try to lead New York to its first win in Vancouver in over 12
years tonight, as the Rangers kick off a three-game swing through western
Canada at GM Place.
The 27-year-old is coming off his first shutout of the season, a 1-0 blanking
of Boston on Sunday. Lundqvist stopped all 29 shots faced for his 21st career
shutout and 150th victory of his career.
"It was a fun game. This is what I was used to last year, low scoring and
tight," Lundqvist admitted. "I got a little spoiled this year. We have been
scoring a lot. The feeling was one mistake could cost us big time."
The Swedish netminder was helped by the return of Marian Gaborik, who missed
the last two games due to a lower-body injury but netted his 11th goal of the
season versus the Bruins.
Gaborik is tied for second in the NHL in goals scored and leads the Rangers
with 19 points. His tally helped lift New York to just its second win in its
last seven games (2-4-1).
The forward wasn't the only skater to return on Sunday, as Sean Avery (knee)
and Christopher Higgins (ankle) also found their way back into the lineup
after one-game absences.
Lundqvist hopes those reinforcements will be enough to earn him his first
victory over the Canucks. He is 0-2-0 with a 5.65 goals-against average in two
previous starts versus them and allowed five goals on 17 shots in a November
19, 2008 loss to the Canucks that saw him last just 26 minutes.
Vancouver is one of three teams Lundqvist has never beaten. He is 0-2-0 three
starts versus Detroit while also losing his only meeting with St. Louis.
New York, which plays in Edmonton on Thursday and Calgary on Saturday, has
lost three straight to the Canucks and eight of the last nine meetings
overall. That includes a setback in four straight in Vancouver, where the
Rangers haven't won since October 11, 1997.
Vancouver netminder Roberto Luongo made 39 saves in beating the Rangers last
year, but he has missed the last three games because of a hairline rib
fracture. Andrew Raycroft has started in his place with mixed results,
allowing only one goal in a win over the Kings on October 29 before getting
tagged for four goals in just two periods of a setback to the Ducks on Friday.
However, he bounced back with 18 saves in Sunday's 3-0 victory over the
Avalanche, his seventh career shutout and first since November 9, 2007 while
with Toronto.
"We didn't obviously play our best in Anaheim," said Raycroft, who is 4-3-1
with a 3.29 GAA lifetime versus the Rangers. "We were a little banged up and a
little tired. We just didn't have a great effort. We wanted to come home and
play well."
Tanner Glass, Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond scored versus Colorado for the
Canucks, who won for the fifth time in seven games (5-2-0).
Vancouver is 6-2-0 at home and plays its next five on the road following this
contest.
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