Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist may be one of the best goalies in the world, but he’s also really good at finding a way to place the blame elsewhere when things don’t go very well.
He was doing just that only a few hours before his team looks to avoid being swept out of the playoffs in Game 4 of their second-round series with the Bruins. This time, it’s the bounces’ fault.
“I’ve looked at a few games, and they definitely got some lucky bounces,” Lundqvist said Thursday morning, according to ESPN.com. “Last game I blame the loss on lucky bounces, but they haven’t changed the way they’re playing. They shoot from the point and they get a lot of people in front of the net. That’s what they do, and they’re good at it. You just have to play them hard and make sure we make it tough for them to get in front.”
Lundqvist turned in his best performance in Game 3 against Boston, when he made a series of highlight-reel saves. However, the Bruins were able to will a couple of pucks by the New York netminder, which was just enough to eek out a 2-1 win to take the 3-0 series lead. It was easily the goalie’s best effort of the series after he allowed three goals and five goals in Games 1 and 2, respectively.
Somewhat coincidentally, Lundqvist was actually helped by a good bounce in Game 3 just seconds before the game-winning goal. The puck went straight up in the air and then down behind Lundqvist before it took a crazy bounce on the goal line and out. That’s when Daniel Paille beat a Rangers defenseman to the puck and banged it home for the eventual game-winner.
