Henrik Lundqvist debuted his new mask with the shiny silver cage on Halloween, what turned out to be a game when the Rangers goalie backstopped his team to a victory over the Golden Knights. It just so happened to also be the first game of a winning streak that extended to five straight games following the 4-2 victory over the Bruins on Wednesday night at the Garden.
When that (non) coincidence was brought up to Lundqvist on Wednesday morning, the franchise netminder just looked up and smiled.
“It was time for a change,” he said.
Lundqvist said he normally goes through about three or four masks a season, this way he can auction them off for charity. His previous mask had a navy blue cage on the outside, but the inside of the pipes were painted white for better vision. This cage is all silver, and Lundqvist had the insides of the pipes sanded down so that there is less glare.
He certainly saw the puck well enough against the Bruins, making 31 saves in his fifth straight start.
“This was probably the best Hank has looked as far as, you know, in control,” said coach Alain Vigneault, who picked up his 200th win as Rangers coach. The only other Rangers coaches to reach that milestone are Emile Francis (342) and Lester Patrick (281).
Defenseman Brendan Smith was a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game and the sixth game this season. Smith signed a four-year, $17.4 million contract this summer before reaching free agency, carrying a $4.35 million annual salary-cap hit.
“I’m going to get Smitty in here at some point,” Vigneault said. “He’s working extremely hard. He understands the areas he needs to improve and focus on.”
As for what Smith had to work on, Vigneault added: “Needs to be stronger on his puck battles. We believe that he can plays with an edge, play with a bite. A little bit quicker going back for pucks and making the right initial play.”
Boo Nieves remained out of the lineup for the third straight game as the fourth-line center was still recovering from what he described as either “food poising or a virus,” stemming from a bad meal in Florida on Friday night.
“Feeling better, but it’s tough, haven’t been able to eat much,” Nieves said after skating Wednesday morning.
Vigneault added that he wasn’t going to put Nieves in the lineup after “basically four days without going on the ice.”
The lineup remained the same for the third straight game, meaning Paul Carey was the fourth-line center until Vigneault gave him only one third-period shift and he sat for the final 17:23 of regulation.