OTTAWA – Brandon Dubinsky had gone more than a month since his last goal. Once he gave the Rangers the early lead, Henrik Lundqvist took care of the rest.
Lundqvist made 33 saves to earn his second shutout in three games, and Dubinsky and Lauri Korpikoski provided the offense in the Rangers’ 2-0 victory over the Senators last night.
“It’s been a struggle for me to score goals,” said Dubinsky, who hadn’t had one since Nov. 24. “I’ve had chances and felt like I was playing well and making good shots but they weren’t going in for me.
“To have a gift like that is nice. Hopefully the floodgates will open and they’ll start going in a little more now.”
Lundqvist, selected this week for his first NHL All-Star game, stopped 27 shots in a 4-0 victory over Pittsburgh on Monday to pick up his first shutout this season. He allowed five goals in a home loss to Montreal on Wednesday, but bounced back against Ottawa after taking a game off.
He has 19 career shutouts in four NHL seasons. Lundqvist served as the backup to Steve Valiquette on Friday night in the Rangers’ 2-1 shootout loss at Buffalo.
That spoiled the outing by Senators goalie Brian Elliott, who made his second NHL start. Ottawa didn’t fare any better at home after returning from a 1-6-1 road trip.
Elliott, the AHL goalie of the month in December, was called up in an effort to give the Senators a spark. He played well, but the effort was futile as the Senators had no answers against Lundqvist.
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The Rangers went more than four periods between penalties before Chris Drury was whistled for hooking at 1:29 of the second period.
Rangers 2 Senators 0