Lundqvist dominating shootouts again after making one tweak
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ANAHEIM, Calif. — For so long, the extra point that is there for the taking in the shootout was being taken on a rather regular basis by the Rangers, at least when Henrik Lundqvist was in nets.
In the first eight years of Lundqvist’s career, which commenced with the post-Owners’ Lockout II inception of the tie-breaking skills competition in 2005-06, the Blueshirts went 45-30 with the King posting an exceptional .763 save percentage while facing 287 ersatz penalty shots.
But the next five years (leading into this season) did not yield the same success. The Rangers won only 13 of the 28 shootouts in which Lundqvist played while his save percentage dropped to .628 against 94 attempts.
But Lundqvist, who backed up Alexandar Georgiev in Thursday’s 3-2 win (also by shootout, Georgiev’s first in the NHL) over the Ducks in the finale of the four-game western trip, appears to be back on track in the skills competition.
The King has allowed just one goal on the six attempts he has faced in going 2-0 in shootouts this season while Rangers shooters have converted on five of eight. Kevin Shattenkirk is 2-for-2 and scored the decisive goal in the bottom of the third inning in each of the first two shootouts, Oct. 16 at home against the Avalanche and Tuesday in San Jose, Calif.
“I’ve made some adjustments,” Lundqvist told The Post. “Not so much my positioning, but my stance. It’s separate from the changes I made in my game.
“I’ve looked at video and sometimes over the years you make changes without really being aware of that. But I’ve come back to where I was a number of years ago. I’ve worked on it at practice and I’m back to the style I’m comfortable with and gives me confidence.”
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The Blueshirts used the same three shooters and same rotation for the first two competitions. Mats Zuccarello, 2-for-3 after being denied on Tuesday but scoring Thursday, has led off, Mika Zibanejad (1-for-3 after his score Thursday) has been in the two-hole. Shattenkirk acted as the closer in the first two. Zuccarello is a career 25-for-48, Zibanejad is 18-for-42 and Shattenkirk is 11-for-30. The power trio makes it easy for David Quinn to call their names.
But the coach will be presented with an interesting choice once a shootout extends past the opening three rounds. Ryan Spooner is 4-for-16 and Jimmy Vesey is 2-for-5. Tony DeAngelo and Cody McLeod (!!) are both 1-for-1 while Kevin Hayes is 1-for-2. Vlad Namestnikov is 0-for-1, so is Marc Staal (!) and so, too, is Chris Kreider, whose lone attempt came during his rookie 2012-13 season.
Chris Kreider, a notoriously streaky scorer who generally has been a slow starter through his career, entered with a team-leading six goals after getting a pair Tuesday. Kreider had two goals in his first 12 games last year and five in the first 21; he had three in the first 12 (after scoring in each of the first three games) and four in the first 19 two years ago; he had one in the first 13 and four in the first 26 in 2014-15; and he had two in his first 14 and three in his first 19 games following his Oct. 24 recall from the Wolf Pack in 2013-14.
Adam McQuaid missed his third straight game with an unidentified lower body injury the defenseman sustained during the first period of the trip’s first game in Chicago on Oct. 24.
The Blueshirts, who chartered home immediately following the game, have the Sabres at the Garden on Sunday before the Canadiens visit Tuesday.