Lundqvist Makes 32 Saves On His Birthday As Rangers Win

By ESPN

With the Rangers struggling offensively, Henrik Lundqvist bailed them out with a vintage performance.

Lundqvist made 32 saves on his 35th birthday and New York got third-period goals from Pavel Buchnevich and Oscar Lindberg to beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday night.

"You can never score on him," said Rangers newcomer Brendan Smith, acquired from Detroit before the trade deadline this week. "I got to watch it on the opposite side and it was amazing to be a part of."

Lundqvist bounced back after giving up nine goals in his previous two games. He earned his 403rd NHL win, tying Grant Fuhr for 10th on the career list.

"I tried to leave everything out there today," Lundqvist said. "In the end we came up with some big plays, big blocks and we found a way."

The Rangers have mustered only 17 goals in the last eight games and are 4-3-1 over that stretch.

"In the third we had a couple of chances that we buried and then we grinded it out," coach Alain Vigneault said. "The goaltender made some big saves and he found us a way to win."

Boston was stymied on several outstanding chances as Lundqvist improved to 25-12-2 against the Bruins with a 1.93 goals-against average.

New York, which has beaten Boston five straight times, outscored the Bruins 12-5 while sweeping the three-game season series.

Brad Marchand scored his team-leading 29th goal for the Bruins to cut it to 2-1 at 12:56 of the third. David Backes just about extinguished any final hopes for Boston when he was whistled for goaltender interference with 2:22 remaining.

"I don't agree with the call and you can watch the replay," Backes said. "He initiated the contact and it is a frustrating way to finish the game."

Buchnevich, called up from the minors earlier in the day, fired a shot over goalie Tuukka Rask's left shoulder to put the Rangers ahead. Lindberg scored 4:25 later to make it 2-0 at 9:35 of the third.

Marchand tipped in a pass from David Pastrnak.

"I think the effort was there," Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron said. "We were playing a great team, but points are at a premium and we will need to bounce back Saturday against New Jersey."

Rask made 19 saves for Boston, which lost for only the second time in nine games.

Thursday, March 2 Scoreboard

New York  Rangers 2, Boston 1

Buffalo 6, Arizona 3

Philadelphia 2, Florida 1 (SO)

Washington 1, New Jersey 0

Columbus 1, Minnesota 0

Montreal 2, Nashville 1

Ottawa 2, Colorado 1

New York Islanders 5, Dallas 4

Los  Angeles 3, Toronto 2 (SO)

San Jose 3, Vancouver 1

Friday, March 3 Schedule (All Times Central)

Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.

Arizona at Carolina, 6:30 p.m.

St. Louis at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.

New York Islanders at Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

Detroit at Calgary, 8 p.m.

Toronto at Anaheim, 9 p.m.

Saturday, March 4 Schedule (All Times Central)

New Jersey at Boston, 6 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 6 p.m.

Columbus at Ottawa, 6 p.m.

Dallas at Florida, 6 p.m.

Montreal at New York Rangers, 6 p.m.

Colorado at Winnipeg, 6 p.m.

Philadelphia at  Washington, 6:30 p.m.

Chicago at Nashville, 7 p.m.

Detroit at Edmonton, 9 p.m.

Vancouver at Los Angeles, 9 p.m.

Sunday, March 5 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York Islanders at Calgary, 3 p.m.

Columbus at New Jersey, 4 p.m.

Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.

San Jose at Minnesota, 5 p.m.

St. Louis at Colorado, 7 p.m.

Vancouver at Anaheim, 7 p.m.

Carolina at Arizona, 7:30 p.m.