After all the preamble, it’s almost showtime for the Rangers.
So consider the final five games of the regular season as the last dress rehearsals. Four of them are set to have Henrik Lundqvist in nets and a lot work awaiting the goaltender and his team in order to feel good going into the postseason.
Make no mistake, there might be a lot of variables with this Rangers team that were established during a season defined by inconsistency. But even with the postseason berth clinched by gaining a point in San Jose on Tuesday and with very little chance they end up anywhere but in the first wild-card spot, there is still one man with whom most of the hope lies, and that man is between the pipes.
“I look forward to this week here,” Lundqvist said after Thursday’s practice, with the home stretch starting when the Penguins roll into the Garden on Friday night. “I think we all feel like it’s getting close and that’s exciting.”
Lundqvist had been noticeably rusty in his two games since returning from a hip injury that sidelined him close to three weeks. There is an obvious immediacy for him to straighten things out before the playoffs. The taste of that first-round exit at the hands of Sidney Crosby & Co. from this past spring will be close indeed.
“It’s a good test to measure yourself against a good team,” Lundqvist said. “For me, for the group, for everyone here, I think it’s important to just go day-by-day here and that’ll be good for the process and get to where you need to be.”
It has been an odd season for Lundqvist, who has had a few stops and starts, with terrific highs and disparaging lows. Each time there was a significant break in him playing games, he struggled to quickly find his form — but he eventually did. Now, there isn’t much time remaining, and coach Alain Vigneault knows how much they need him to be at his highest level.
“He’s got to find a rhythm, he’s got to find his game,” Vigneault said, noting Lundqvist only will sit for one of the back-to-back games that finish the regular season, in Ottawa on April 8 and at home against the Penguins the following night.
“It’s not easy. He was out for 2 ¹/₂ weeks, not a lot of practice time in there. I know he’s going to be fine, he’s proved that in the past. It’s just a matter of him finding his groove and his rhythm.”
Of course, it is not entirely on Lundqvist, as the team in front of him has been uncharacteristically porous in its own end during this lull of 6-7-3 over the last 16 games. Well, uncharacteristic compared to previous seasons when defense was its strength.
“When there is more open-type scoring chances, I try to adjust to the game,” Lundqvist said. “I think when you look at the 12 years I’ve been here, the game hasn’t been played exactly the same way. So there’s always something you need to correct, something, as a goalie, you need to adjust.
“As a goalie, you can only react to what’s going on in front of you. It’s not like you can dictate the game yourself. The foundation is there. But then there are always things you need to tweak and correct and do your job as best as possible.”
As opposed to some years, the Rangers now have a little bit of time to try to iron things out before a series starts against the most likely opponent, the Atlantic Division-leading Canadiens. But a lull in intensity is hardly something they want.
“There have been years when we’re scratching tooth and nail right to the very end to get in,” Marc Staal said, “and I think this way is a little bit more challenging, bringing that playoff desperation and mentality [every night], because nothing replicates that.”
Very soon, that playoff desperation will be upon them, and Lundqvist and his mates are doing all they can to be ready for it by not looking too far ahead.
“I think for the past two months, you have moments when you think ahead,” Lundqvist said. “It’s hard not to. But then you come back to reality and where you are and what you need to do.”