DALLAS _ The Rangers have missed the old Henrik Lundqvist and the new version of old Rick Nash. Fortunately for them, both made the trip to Dallas.
Nash _ enjoying a bounce-back season but sidelined since Dec. 6 with a groin injury _ scored on a short-handed breakaway in the third period to break a scoreless tie and Mats Zuccarello added an empty-netter to give the Rangers a 2-0 win on Thursday night.
Lundqvist made 27 saves in a triumphant return that was nearly cut short after a dirty hit by Cody Eakin in the first period _ one that saw Lundqvist leave the ice as he underwent concussion protocol and had him return as good as ever. It was one of his best performances in his underwhelming season, reminiscent of his 35-save opus against St. Louis on Nov. 1.
The hit seemed hard enough to level even the most hardened player, but there's no doubt that recent events have him holding on just a little bit tighter. Antti Raanta's performance this year, and in the last four games in particular, have raised questions where there has previously only been certainty.
Were the Rangers better off with Raanta in net? Was the Lundqvist era inching toward its conclusion?
The answers, as far as Alain Vigneault was concerned, were no. Henrik Lundqvist was their No. 1, he was going to continue to be their No. 1, and on Thursday night at American Airlines Center, he would prove that after a historically long benching (for him, at least). It took only nine minutes for that to be in jeopardy.
At 9:19 of the first period, Eakin, the Stars' center, floored Lundqvist behind the net while the netminder's head was down, trying to retrieve the puck. Lundqvist's helmet flew off, he went down, and struggled to get back to his feet before falling to his knees again. Eakin, who executed the dirty hit with 51 seconds left in a Rangers power play, was assessed with a five-minute major for charging and game misconduct. The Rangers weren't able to score on the 5-on-3 or the subsequent man-up advantage. Eakin was ejected from the game.
Lundqvist, meanwhile, had to be carted off _ most likely to undergo concussion protocol _ resulting in Raanta's return. This time, though, it lasted only five minutes, 31 seconds. Lundqvist had every motivation, too _ in addition to his numbers this year (his 2.55 goals against and .912 save percentage are the worst of his career), he's historically done very well in Dallas. Before Thursday's game, he was 4-1-0 with a 2.17 goals against and .940 save percentage (he's been less successful against them at Madison Square Garden).
After his return, he continued the trend _ particularly in a brutal second period where the Stars outshot the Rangers, 18-9. The Stars saw some of their best opportunities during a power play midway through the second period, when Oscar Lindberg was penalized for tripping at 10:03. They rattled off six attempts in the span of a minute, including Jamie Benn's wrister, saved by Lundqvist, and Patrick Eaves' attempt on the rebound (it went wide). Michael Grabner blocked John Klingberg's shot and Lundqvist had another save on Benn's snap shot attempt.
At 7:08 of the third and less than a minute into the penalty kill after Jesper Fest went off for interference, Nash intercepted a pass by Benn. He went one-on-one with Antti Niemi and won easily for his 12th goal. He now has 19 points in 28 games, a far cry from last year, when he had 15 goals and 21 assists in 60 games.
"I feel like if I can get through a full practice and I feel like if I can do that, I can play a game," he said before the game. "Whenever you come back from an injury, you're always worried about the confidence that you have in that injury, so it'll be a good test for me to get back into it."
