Henrik Lundqvist Comes Up Big with 5th Shutout Win over Jets

The New York Rangers were back at the Garden Tuesday night and looking good with a 3-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets.  And in keeping with his stellar season, Henrik Lundqvist recorded his fifth shutout of 2011-2012 and the 40th of his NHL career. In his seven years in the league, Tuesday's shutout tied him for second place on the Rangers' all-time shutouts list alongside Dave Kerr.

The Rangers started the first period strong. Their faithful leader and captain Ryan Callahan scored a rebound off Anton Stralman at 4:05 gone by in the first to give his team the early lead.  

John Mitchell, who has been making a name for himself as of late, scored a beauty at 13:22 in the second off of a hard pass from Michael Del Zotto, widening the Rangers' lead to 2-0. Mitchell has scored an impressive three goals in his last five games.

Brad Richards then ended his eight-game scoring drought with a goal at 16:22 in the third. He was assisted by Callahan, who earned himself the honor to don the sweaty Broadway hat for last night's game.

Lundqvist was on point last night, stopping all 22 shots on goal in his fifth consecutive start for the Blueshirts.  Backup goaltender Martin Biron was in net for the Rangers' last two outings and subsequent wins against the Winnipeg Jets this season and probably would have played last night but for a bout with the flu.  Chad Johnson was called up from the Hartford Whalers in his stead. 

Henrik Lundqvist, along with teammates Marian Gaborik and Dan Girardi, will head to Ottawa this weekend for the 2012 NHL All-Star game where he has been named alternate captain for Daniel Alfredsson’s team. Rangers head coach John Tortorella will be heading to Ottawa as well to coach Alfredsson's team.

With last night's win against the Jets, the Rangers reclaimed their first-place spot in the Eastern Conference against the Boston Bruins with 66 points and trail the Western Conference Detroit Red Wings by one point in the league overall.