For Lundqvist, Question Gets Old but Rivalry Doesn’t

ShareThis


GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Henrik Lundqvist has a talent for making the very difficult look easy, but Monday it was hard for him to hide the effort. Perhaps there was no way he could come up with the save on this one.

“The last time we played them was a special series,” he said, straining to come up with a new answer to the old question about what it feels like to renew the rivalry with the Devils and Martin Brodeur. “I look forward to seeing them again.”

The Rangers will play the Devils on Tuesday for the first time since they lost to them in the Eastern Conference finals last spring. The rivalry picks up at Prudential Center in Newark, where it left off May 25 when Adam Henrique scored on Lundqvist in overtime in Game 6 to send the Devils to the Stanley Cup finals and the Rangers home for the summer.

“What can I say?” Lundqvist said when asked again about the matchup. “It’s the same question for eight years.”

Lundqvist did well in treating each iteration of the Devils/Brodeur question with courtesy and thoughtfulness, as he always does. But this time, the sense of tedium was visible.

Still, the question was reasonable. The Rangers, who were the top seed in the East, went into the conference finals a slight favorite. It was the first time the teams had met in the conference finals since 1994, when the Rangers won the series on Stephane Matteau’s goal in the second overtime of Game 7.

But Brodeur narrowly outplayed Lundqvist, allowing 12 goals on a .927 save percentage to Lundqvist’s 13 goals and .917.

Now, to face them again had to bring up some painful memories, surely? But Lundqvist said no.

“When it happened and the season is over, you just try to forget about it — it hurts,” he said. “But you definitely try to learn from it.”

Brodeur, 40, is almost surely headed to the Hall of Fame at the end of his N.H.L. career, which dates to 1992, all with the Devils. Lundqvist, 30, who won the Vezina Trophy last season, is in the prime of his career, which started in 2005, all with the Rangers. Lundqvist holds the advantage over Brodeur in regular-season matchups, with 23 victories and a .941 save percentage to 12 victories and a .920 save percentage for Brodeur.

This season, both goalies are off to spotty starts. Lundqvist has a .904 save percentage, 21st among the N.H.L.’s 39 regular goalies through Sunday. Brodeur, at .899, ranked 23rd. But those numbers will almost certainly improve.

Lundqvist’s admiration for Brodeur remains high. With the cameras off, he spoke about how good Brodeur remains despite having played for so many years.

“He doesn’t go as deep into the butterfly as younger guys, so that style of his hasn’t been as hard on his knees,” Lundqvist said. “And he can read the game so well — that’s something that improves with age if you stay sharp, and makes up for whatever quickness you might lose as you get older. Marty’s still got it.”

Lundqvist said there would be no added emotions in returning to the Devils’ rink. “No, I’ve walked into that building so many times,” he said. “It’s the past now, what happened last season.

“We’ve played against them so many times — there have been a lot of great games in the past,” he continued, finally finding the right combination of words and sentiments. “That’s what makes these games special. I like that.”

It was another save by Lundqvist.


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/sports/hockey/for-lundqvist-rivalry-with-devils-and-brodeur-never-gets-old.html?smid=tw-nytimessports&seid=auto&_r=0