Lundqvist challenges team to play better

December 7, 2008   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Well, at least one star player knows his team has stunk for quite a while despite the record. Henrik Lundqvist, who really should be up for both the Vezina and Hart based on how well he’s performed with this swiss cheese D in front of him finally has seen enough.

It was during Thursday’s embarrassing 6-2 blowout loss in Montreal that the 26 year-old Swede got visibly upset taking Scott Gomez to task for not backchecking on Alex Tanguay’s goal and even had some words for coach Tom Renney at the end of the first period.

“I was a little bit upset in the first period, but then I calmed down,” Lundqvist told The Post’s Larry Brooks following practice. “There haven’t been too many times this year that I’ve been frustrated, it doesn’t happen too often, but sometimes as a goalie you can feel pretty alone, and that was how I felt then. … It’s all fine now. Gomer and I are friends again.”

Alone would be the biggest understatement because that had to be one of the worst performances this club’s given since some of those dreadful teams which never had a sniff of the playoffs. Considering who’s on the roster and what they’re earning, it’s inexcusable.

It was also during another blowout defeat on home ice to the Canucks that King Henrik pulled himself out making a statement during a game which also was covered by TSN where broadcasters trashed the lack of D. While Lundqvist later indicated it was Renney who gave him the signal, any hockey fan knows that was just the goalie being a good team guy not wanting any controversy.

Despite the 18-9-2 mark which still is good enough for second in the East trailing just Boston, the Blueshirts’ goal differential is only plus-four (77 GF, 73 GA) pointing out how flawed this team is. Since October, they haven’t been the same. Something the goalie is fully aware of.

“We started out doing a really good job at holding down the scoring chances against us, but lately we’ve been giving up an average of 17 or 18 a game, and it’s really hard to be more than a .500 team when you’re in that range. … We’ve been doing a little too much gambling; we have to be more disciplined.”

With the Pens not missing a beat without top defenders Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney plus the Devils getting healthier proving they can win without Martin Brodeur and the Flyers playing better, it’s critical for Lundqvist’s teammates to start chipping in even if the pedestrian Wade Redden is out tonight versus Calgary with Corey Potter up from Hartford.

“We have to step up here, because recently we have not been playing the way we did in the first month of the season. The first month we were playing a very strict and disciplined game, but lately that’s been only been so-so, and that’s not really good enough for this team.“

“We had games where we came back to win in shootouts and were feeling pretty good about ourselves, but if we’re not at our most disciplined against a very good team, we’re going to get exposed.”

Lately, that’s been the alarming trend and with an unforgiving schedule that includes a stop at Newark next week and a West Coast swing, they need to get it righted soon before the rest of the Atlantic catches and passes them.

Against an opponent who they hardly play well against with Jarome Iginla netting a hat trick last time out and Mike Keenan back where he helped deliver a Stanley Cup, we’ll see what they come up with later tonight.