It took all of one period for those dialed into the New York Rangers-Dallas Stars game Thursday to realize Henrik Lundqvist was in for a busy night.
The Rangers goalie was called upon to make 23 saves in the opening 20 minutes, and then backstopped his team to a 3-2 win over the host Stars.
His final tally included 41 saves, and one assist on a long stretch pass that eventually led to Rick Nash scoring his first goal of the season after he missed 17 games earlier with a concussion.
The win starts the Rangers off on a five-game road trip.
“It’s not going to be an easy trip, so I’m happy to start this way ... Henrik put on a display ... he kept us in the game,” said Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault, as per the team’s Twitter account.
Chris Kreider and John Moore scored goals 37 seconds apart in the third period for the Rangers to break open a 1-1 tie.