Associated Press
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 22 shots, and Ryan Callahan, John Mitchell and Brad Richards provided the offense in the Rangers' 3-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.
Lundqvist (22-10-4) made his fifth consecutive start for the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers, marking the busiest stretch of the season for Lundqvist since he played in New York's first six games. He won't be able to rest this weekend, either, because he will be in Ottawa for the NHL All-Star game, but he shows no signs of wearing down.
With Martin Biron in net, the Rangers had allowed only one goal in beating the Jets in their two previous meetings this season, and Lundqvist picked up where he left off. The All-Star earned his fifth shutout and 40th in seven NHL seasons.
The Rangers have won four of six.
Callahan gave the Rangers a 1-0 just 4:05 in when he got to a rebound of defenseman Anton Stralman's shot and slammed it into the wide-open left side of the net for his 17th of the season.
In the second period, Mitchell stretched the Rangers' lead to 2-0 with his fifth of the season and third in five games. Michael Del Zotto sent a pass across the Winnipeg zone and hit Mitchell in stride in the middle of the left circle for a hard snap shot that appeared to tick goalie Ondrej Pavelec's glove on its way to the top right corner at 13:22.
Richards pushed the lead to 3-0 with 3:38 left in the game, scoring his 16th this season and first in eight games.
When Winnipeg put pressure on Lundqvist, he was up to the task. Less than 3 minutes into the third period, Tanner Glass had a chance from point-blank range near the right post, but Lundqvist got over and stopped the drive with his pad and covered the puck.
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STAT OF THE GAME
Henrik Lundqvist's 40th career shutout moved him into a tie with Dave Kerr for second place on the Rangers’ all-time shutouts list. Lundqvist has allowed one goal or less in nine of his last 16 games, and has held opponents to two or fewer goals in 24 games this season. He ranks seventh among active goalies in career shutouts, and is one of only two NHL goaltenders to record 40 or more shutouts since the start of the 2005-06 season (Martin Brodeur, 41).
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| (selected by the local media) |
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| 1. Lundqvist |
2. Callahan |
3. Mitchell |
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[37-35-10]
[51-24-7]