NHL Playoffs Roundup: Henrik Lundqvist Injury Signals Big Trouble for Rangers

What were the odds the blunt edge of a teammate's stick would fit through Henrik Lundqvist's well-fortified mask and cause an eye injury that forced him out of a playoff game? Probably the same percentage the New York Rangers have of winning their first-round NHL playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins if they have to keep playing without their No. 1 goalie.

The Rangers' biggest advantage over the Penguins, in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, was wiped out with 48.2 seconds remaining in the first period Wednesday night in Game 1 at Consol Energy Center. Lundqvist's teammate, Marc Staal, battling in front of the net with Pittsburgh's Oskar Sundqvist, accidentally wedged the end of his stick between two of the metal bars in Lundqvist's mask and injured his right eye.

A game that was scoreless to that point—perhaps a moral victory of sorts for the Rangers in a road playoff game—ended in a 5-2 final, with backup Antti Raanta no match for a Penguins club that came into the series as the hottest in the league down the stretch of the regular season.

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault told NBC, on the bench not long after the injury, that Lundqvist was "day-to-day." 

As NBC's Jeremy Roenick said after the game: "This could be a short series."

It certainly will be if the Rangers can't do any better than that offensively. Their only goal came on a 5-on-3 power play, which cut a 2-0 Penguins lead in half in the third period. The Rangers still had more than two minutes left on the rest of a double-minor Carl Hagelin was serving but did little against Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff—playing his first NHL playoff game, in relief of Marc-Andre Fleury, who is still unable to play because of a concussion.

Lundqvist has long been the rock of the Rangers. Even in his later years, he remains an intimidating presence. Even though Pittsburgh has played great without Fleury of late, Lundqvist gave New York the edge in the most important position in the game at the most important time of the year.

It was already against the odds that the Rangers could win this series with Lundqvist. Without him? No chance.

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

The Rangers especially have no chance if top forwards such as Eric Staal and Rick Nash keep playing like they did in Game 1. The two highly paid veterans were a combined minus-five, with three shots on goal. Along with the accidental injuring of his goalie, Marc Staal was a minus-two himself. 

“We talked about it before the playoff starts: You have to be able to have guys step in and play a bigger role,” Rangers center Derek Stepan said, via Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post. “That’s the way it’s going to have to be for us.”

Now, the Rangers are staring at a Game 2 possibly without Lundqvist when they already won't have their captain, Ryan McDonagh, who is out with a hand injury. Lundqvist did play right after the injury but seemed unsure of a rolling puck near the end of the period and was victimized on a goal by Patric Hornqvist.

The Penguins got the hat trick from Hornqvist, along with an assist. Sidney Crosby added a goal and two assists.

Injuries can't be the excuse for the Rangers, as Pittsburgh is also playing without its top goalie and another top star, Evgeni Malkin. 

But the way the Penguins are playing, they can afford those losses right now. The Rangers, without Lundqvist, are going nowhere in a hurry.

Gritty Blues Set the Right Tone versus Blackhawks 

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

If the St. Louis Blues are going to go on and dethrone the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, they need to keep playing just like they did in Game 1 Wednesday, a 1-0 overtime win on David Backes’ deflected goal.

Well, they probably need to play better than that. But in the larger picture, it was how the Blues won that was the most encouraging thing moving forward.

The Blues played a physically punishing game and wore down Chicago as the game went along. St. Louis was credited with 41 hits to Chicago’s 24. While Chicago’s defense played well without top defender Duncan Keith, it became noticeable in overtime that they missed him. St. Louis got in on the forecheck in OT, caused some turnovers and happy feet on the Blackhawks defense and was rewarded with the Backes goal that deflected in off the skate of Trevor van Riemsdyk.

Make no mistake: Chicago could have won this game. They outshot the Blues 35-18, and if not for goalie Brian Elliott, St. Louis would be in a 1-0 hole and already facing “here we go again” storylines after three straight one-and-done playoff finishes.

But the game wasn’t as one-sided territorially as the shots would indicate. Many of those 35 shots were low-quality chances. St. Louis won 54 percent of the game’s faceoffs, too. The Blues were clearly the better team in overtime, despite playing two minutes of it shorthanded after youngster Colton Parayko shot a puck into the stands from his own end.

The Blues limited Chicago to just two shots on the ensuing power play, however, and they dominated from there.

Now, though, Keith returns for the champs. He automatically makes Chicago better, and now they don’t have to play guys such as Van Riemsdyk (who played 28:12) as much. 

With the way St. Louis is bringing it physically, Chicago needs the reinforcements.

Lightning Will Go As Far as Ben Bishop Takes Them

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Lightning may not have Steven Stamkos and they may not have Anton Stralman, but as long as Ben Bishop is healthy enough to play, they have a big advantage in goal over the Detroit Red Wings.

In a best-of-seven series, that may be good enough for the defending Eastern Conference champs to survive for at least one more round. Bishop was the difference-maker in the Lightning's 3-2 win in Game 1 at Amalie Arena over a Red Wings team that blew a great chance to take an early lead against a short-handed club.

Bishop, who figures to be a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, stopped 32 of 34 shots in besting Wings goalie Jimmy Howard. Nikita Kucherov's two goals, along with Alex Killorn's tie-breaker with 11:08 left in the third period, was good enough for Bishop.

This is how the Lightning are going to have to win the rest of the way. The Bolts have enough talent left on hand to score two or three goals a game but probably not much more without Stamkos (blood clot) and Stralman (fractured leg). Bishop has the kind of talent to win with that minimum amount of offensive support. 

Can he do it all the way to another Eastern Conference title? It's unlikely, but a hot goalie can cure a lot of ills.

Adrian Dater covers the NHL for Bleacher Report.