That sound? That was the sound of the Rangers postseason foundation shaking.
That rumble? That was the rumbling of panicked aftershock that followed in its wake.
Because the Rangers 5-2 loss to the Penguins in Game 1 of the opening-round playoff series on Wednesday night at CONSOL Energy Center was more than just a rough way to start the postseason. Franchise netminder Henrik Lundqvist was forced to leave the game soon after he took an inadvertent stick from teammate Marc Staal to the right eye late in the first period.
Though it’s not believed to be a serious injury, Lundqvist’s status in this best-of-seven contest is uncertain — and the same could be said for the Blueshirts’ season.
“He’ll be reevaluated [Thursday],” was all downtrodden coach Alain Vigneault had as far as an update after the game. “We’ll have more news [Thursday].”
The play happened with 46.2 seconds remaining in the first period, the game scoreless and the Rangers holding most of the play. Staal was battling in front with Oskar Sundqvist, and his stick got up into the mask, getting through the facial guards and catching Lundqvist’s right eye.
The goalie went to the ice in a heap, squirming in pain for almost 30 seconds. Trainer Jim Ramsay came out to attend to him, and after a while, Lundqvist skated to the bench, got some treatment and returned.
And then with 17.6 seconds remaining in the period, the puck snuck through Staal’s skates and in front to Patric Hornqvist, who was able to bury the first of his three goals. It went through Lundqvist’s legs, as the goalie seemingly had some trouble tracking the play.
Staal, who had suffered a serious eye injury in 2013, said he knew it wasn’t good from the start. It wasn’t good that Lundqvist was hurt, and it wasn’t good his team went into the second period down 1-0 in such a dramatic fashion.
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