At that point, the game didn’t matter. It was Lundqvist’s well being. When he was able to gather himself and waved off Cam Talbot, the crowd gave him a thunderous ovation and the familiar chant of “Hen-rik, Hen-rik!” When it comes down to it, nobody wants to win more than him. His desire to be the best reminds me of another goalie who just retired. Lundqvist wants to be the man. In Manhattan, he is.

With his team struggling against an opponent who played the night before, he was again splendid. Even though they led 2-0 after a period on the strength of Rick Nash’s team-leading 29th and a highlight reel Dominic Moore shorthanded goal, the Rangers were badly outplayed by the Hurricanes. It was the Canes who pushed the pace generating quality chances off a strong forecheck. Eric and Jordan Staal continue to have chemistry since being put together. Even on a night Alex Semin actually dressed, their line was dangerous. But Lundqvist was at his best stopping all 15 Canes shots in the first.

Leading by two, the Rangers continued to be guilty of sloppy play. They turned the puck over and left too many gaps. That has been a downward trend during the past two weeks. Against better competition, they can’t get away with it. For a while, the lack of attention to detail has been a concern. Along with the lack of production from key players, it forced coach Alain Vigneault to change his lines. Before he made even more radical ones that turned the tide, he had to watch his goalie on the ice in lots of pain.

”My brother was an expert at that, actually, in practice,” Lundqvist said referring to twin brother Joel. ”He hit me on the throat a lot of times, but not like this where my helmet kind of came off and I lost track of the puck.

”It could have been a lot worse. I feel lucky.”

It wasn’t until that same player Malone scored off a Ryan Murphy pass to cut the lead to 2-1 that the team played better. Following another Carolina push, Vigneault’s new lines started to finally sustain pressure. That included a third line of Boston College tandem Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes with slumping winger Mats Zuccarello. In particular, Kreider was a standout. Flying throughout, he got and created opportunities. It was one of his best games. While a few teammates haven’t been great lately, Kreider has been very noticeable. He is looking like the power forward the Rangers haven’t had in a long time.

Fittingly, his strong effort was rewarded. It was Kreider who finished off a Hayes set up down low thanks to some yeoman work from Zuccarello, who picked up a secondary assist. Talk about a player who needed a point. It was a dominant shift by the trio. They put constant pressure on the Canes D and finally got a huge insurance goal with 9:44 left in regulation.

That definitely gave them a confidence boost. On the very next shift, Jesper Fast and Carl Hagelin combined to set up Dan Boyle’s fifth making it two goals in 21 seconds. They played with Derick Brassard while Nash was back on a line with Derek Stepan and Martin St. Louis. J.T. Miller, who started on the top line was demoted back to the fourth line following a turnover that led to a Canes chance. He played better with Moore and Tanner Glass. Even though they were out for a goal against, that was more due to Boyle and John Moore not doing the job in front. That third pair remains a sore spot.

Encouraging is that the Rangers outshot the Canes 16-7 in the third. But also keep in mind that Carolina had tired legs. They struggled mightily in the period. With under 30 seconds left, Fast hit a goalpost. Afterwards, happy teammates congratulated the goalie who made it possible. Lundqvist was the hero. There are plenty of adjectives to describe him. I’ll end this post with one. Character.

NY Puck 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Dominic Moore, NYR (SHG-4th of season in 19 shifts-12:22)

2nd Star-Chris Kreider, NYR (11th of season, 4 SOG, 4 takeaways, +1 in 15:12)

1st Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (31 saves for 24th win-inspirational)