Henrik Lundqvist suffers a freak injury at the hands of his own teammate
Anyone who is a goalie might want to steer clear of the first-round series between the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins are on Plan C in net after both Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion) and Matt Murray (head) were unable to play in Game 1. Now the Rangers are in a tight spot in goal as well after starter Henrik Lundqvist was forced to leave Game 1 with an apparent eye injury.
Lundqvist suffered a freak injury in the waning seconds of the first period when Rangers defenseman Marc Staal somehow managed to catch his stick in Lundqvist's mask, jabbing the goaltender in the eye. Although Lundqvist initially attempted to stay in the game, he was not able to return for the second period and was not even well enough to stay on the bench.
Antti Raanta manned the New York crease for the remainder of the game and stopped 16 of the 19 shots he faced, but the Rangers dropped Game 1, 5-2, to the Penguins.
Lundqvist's injury is a blow to an ailing Rangers team already suffering from the loss of their captain, Ryan McDonagh. The last thing the Rangers need is a star goalie who is having trouble seeing. But teams are always mum about injuries during the playoffs, so it is not clear how serious Lundqvist's injury could be. There is no word as to whether Lundqvist will be available for Game 2 of the series on Saturday.
