It’s not very often that you see Henrik Lundqvist make a bad mistake that leads to a great scoring opportunity for the opposing team, but when he does, he makes sure to even it out by making an absolutely ridiculous save.
That’s what happened on Thursday night when the New York Rangers faced the Arizona Coyotes at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers goalie committed a brutal turnover behind his own net, basically handing a puck over to a Coyotes player behind the goal line, who then immediately found Anthony Duclair in front of the net with a great pass.
It looked like Duclair — a former Rangers prospect and one of the most impressive young rookies in the NHL this season — was going to add another easy goal to his season totals, as he had a wide open net in front of him as he took his shot. Or, at least he did before Lundqvist dove across the crease and made a fantastic desperation save to rob him.
Would Duclair have had better luck if he managed to get some more elevation on his shot? Maybe, or maybe not. That’s the thing about Lundqvist. He’s so good, he’ll have you second-guessing yourself even when you have a wide open net to shoot at.