BOSTON — Not very many of The King’s horses showed up to support Henrik Lundqvist in his return to nets, that’s for sure.
For whatever reason, the Rangers couldn’t have come out flatter and more mistake-prone than they did here on Saturday, unaccountably leaving Lundqvist essentially on his own for the first 30 minutes of a 4-2 Bruins’ victory of which the score reflected an optical illusion of competitiveness.
On another day, perhaps Lundqvist would have been able to prop up his team. But not in this one, exactly eight weeks after The King took that puck to the throat, and in his first game after being sidelined since Feb. 2 with a torn blood vessel in his neck.
Not in this one in which the B’s, fighting for the final Eastern Conference wild card, jumped on the Blueshirts from the opening faceoff, stormed the crease, and gained a 1-0 lead just 41 seconds into the match when Milan Lucic turned his skate to direct a rebound into the net for a most questionable goal awarded by Toronto’s video review crew.
“It was obviously not the start I was looking for,” Lundqvist said. “In my head, when it happened, I was 100-percent sure it was not a goal. Whether it was the right call or not, it was really tough.
“It was a battle from the get-go,” the goaltender said after a 26-save afternoon on which he shut out Boston for the final 34:07 after the Bruins had gained a 4-0 lead early in the second period. “It was tough timing-wise, and after having only a couple of practices the last eight weeks, obviously it was a little bit challenging but as the game went on I felt more and more comfortable.”
The Rangers never found a comfort level against the Bruins, repeatedly turning over the puck in prime real estate. Just as the big Kings had at the Garden in L.A.’s 4-2 victory on Tuesday, the big Bruins set the tone early, shoved the Blueshirts around, and forced a multitude of Ranger errors while winning one battle after another.
“We didn’t execute and we were a little bit on our heels from the start,” said Derek Stepan, whose team has lost two of three and is 3-3 in the last six games. “We know we’re facing desperate hockey teams who are going to come hard in the first five minutes, really hard, and we have to be able to match that intensity and even raise it.”
Defensemen Dan Boyle and Keith Yandle were turnover machines who also were deficient in their decision-making in front of Lundqvist. Chris Kreider didn’t have nearly the game required against a Bruins’ team that seemed to bully their opponents, but neither he nor the aforementioned two defensemen were alone in their culpability.
This was a team-wide disappointment on a day when much more was required in front of Lundqvist, who could not have been expected to be at his best, and wasn’t. The rebound off a left wing shot that led to the opening goal was too juicy. Lucic’s left wing wrist that went five-hole to make it 2-0 at 9:26 that followed a Carl Hagelin turnover and a misread by Boyle, was a softie.
The third goal came on a Carl Soderberg breakaway at 14:27 after a fumble and bumble by Matt Hunwick. The fourth from Reilly Smith at 5:33 of the second was scored from in front on a failed clear after Lundqvist had stopped Loui Eriksson on a right wing sprint to the net.
“It’s decision-making and all about having to move and read situations,” said Lundqvist, who did seem encouraged by his work over the game’s second half. “For me, it’s about trying to build confidence and building day-by-day.”
The Rangers scored twice against Niklas Svedberg, who replaced Tuukka Rask at 0:10 of the second when the starting goaltender left the game with what is believed symptoms of dehydration. Rick Nash hit the 40-goal mark for the third time in his career to break an eight-game drought at 16:49 of the second before Hunwick scored in the match’s final seconds.
There are eight games to go for the Blueshirts, beginning with Sunday afternoon’s Garden match against the Capitals for which Cam Talbot will be in nets. Lundqvist is likely to get five more starts.
“When [I] got over the hump in the second period, I felt a lot better,” Lundqvist said. “So it’s coming. I’m going to do whatever I can to get where I need to be as fast as I can.”