Photo Credit: UPI
If you’ve been keeping up with the New York Rangers, or you’ve looked anywhere on social media, you’ll see that some Ranger fans were a bit taken aback by how goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, otherwise known as “The King,” was doing. With a few losses in the beginning of the season, and more than a handful of goals from opposing teams making it through, fans were worried that it would continue on and on throughout the rest of the season. Surprisingly enough, that all came to an end on Sunday night, October 19 2014, when the New York Rangers played the San Jose Sharks in Madison Square Garden.
In the 1st period, it was anybody’s game. Nobody had scored yet, but Lundqvist blocked every shot taken towards the net and he went above and beyond to protect his territory. By the time the 2nd period began, there was a fire fueled under the Rangers and Carl Hagelin scored the first goal of the game with assists from John Moore and Dominic Moore. As the game went on, this is where it got exciting.
Within seconds of each other, Martin St. Louis scored an unassisted goal just a mere 4 seconds before Rick Nash would score his 7th goal of the season and the 3rd goal of the game, assisted by Dominic Moore. Though no fan wanted to get ahead of themselves, especially with how the past few games played out, the excitement wasn’t going to stop there. The third round began and it was becoming obvious that during this game, the Rangers were going to have the upper hand and this was proven when the 22 year old Kevin Hayes scored the 4th and final goal of the game, making it 4-0 at the end.
A confident Lundqvist with the big “#30” on his back, put a stop to 33 shots. The Sharks tried hard to get through the net, allowing this game to be a memorable one. Henrik Lundqvist extended the franchise record, with this being his 51st career shutout. He is trailing behind former New York Rangers goalie Eddie Giacomin who has 54. Though the season has just begun, and there is still a very long way to go, it is clear to see that the king still reigns!
