Maybe the All-Star break made him a little rusty. Perhaps a tough Tuesday night had as much to do with the Columbus Blue Jackets’ attack as anything else.
Whatever the explanation might be, Henrik Lundqvist struggled once again for the New York Rangers, getting replaced by Antti Raanta early in the second period of tonight’s contest. Lundqvist allowed three goals on 16 shots.
There’s a wide range of reactions to Lundqvist getting the hook, from those wondering if age is indeed catching up to him to those placing much of the blame on the Rangers’ team play.
The rangers are on pace to give up 40 shots to a John Tortorella-coached team that's had no PP time but let's talk about Lundqvist.
— Adam Herman (@AdamZHerman) February 1, 2017
Here comes Antti Raanta, first appearance since Jan. 14 in Montreal. Lundqvist has allowed 3 on 16 shots. Third one was all on him.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) February 1, 2017
Take a look at the goal in question, Alexander Wennberg’s ninth of 2016-17:
Lundqvist was showing signs of improvement lately, allowing just six goals over a four-game period from Jan. 19-25. In the grand scheme of things, nights like these have been uncomfortably common for “King Henrik.”
Update: The Blue Jackets built up a 6-0 lead at one point, so things didn’t go a whole lot better for Raanta. The Rangers made a game of it with four unanswered goals in the third period, but Columbus ultimately won 6-4.