INSIDE HOCKEY

NEW YORK – The Henrik Lundqvist Show won’t be facing the same fate as a couple of NBC comedy shows did last month. Nor will it have to go through the syndication system like Judge Judy.

Nope, the New York Rangers (26-26-7) seem to like this show, and when its’ episodes are as successful as Saturday night’s was at Madison Square Garden, you can be sure the Rangers will be holding on to its top-rated showcase for a long time.

“He’s unbelievable. I don’t know how many highlight-reel saves he made tonight. When he’s on, it’s pretty amazing to watch,” said rookie defenseman Michael Del Zotto. “I said it on the bench, even on the ice sometimes, I see a save he makes and I’m like ‘wow.’ It’s pretty impressive. When we have him going, it gives us a lot of boost back there for the defense.”

Lundqvist, who made 19 of his 41 saves in a frantic third period, was spectacular in the first 27 minutes of the game, making glove saves look easy, not allowing rebounds on slappers from the slot and keeping the suddenly potent New Jersey Devils offense off the board.

After that, the Rangers offensive attack took over, scoring three goals in 2:39 of the second en-route to a 3-1 win over their cross-river rivals.

“I think as a team, we like the challenge,” Lundqvist said of the challenge playing against the Devils (36-19-2). “They’re a good team; they’re always consistent, every year. It’s a great challenge to play them. We did a lot of good things tonight. We have to get every win here we can get. It’s been a tough couple of weeks. Personally, I needed a good, solid game to feel good. I’m happy with the way I played and the way the team played.”

Lundqvist repeatedly talks about how excited he gets to play the Devils – or any other top team with a top-flight goaltender. In the Devils, he stands 190 feet away from arguably the best goaltender of this generation. His stats against Martin Brodeur are simply extraordinary.

“He’s always good. Look at his numbers against all the teams, I’m sure they’re pretty good,” said Ryan Callahan, who scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal at 8:16 of the second. “It’s a big rivalry, obviously everybody in the room gets pretty jacked up playing against them, and I think Hank does the same.”

“He played very well. He made some good saves early, when they mounted on us in the third period, they were just stretching people behind us in the back end, he made some great saves then,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “We need it. That’s the way you win. We’re not the only team. Every team that wins gets goaltending. Henrik is the backbone.”

This season, “King Henrik” has a 1.48 GAA against Brodeur’s Devils, and a 2-1-1 record. The loss was by a 4-2 final on October 22 and includes an empty-net goal, and the extra-time loss came nearly a month ago – a 1-0 loss in the shootout during which he made a career-high 45 saves.

All-time against the Devils, the numbers are stunning for their improbability: Twenty-eight regular season matchups, a record of 17-6-5, and a goals against average of 1.76.

“They’re a top team. Right now we’re battling against other teams, but it’s always exciting to play the New York teams,” Lundqvist said. “The rivalry, the fans are into it a little more. That’s fun, but it doesn’t really matter in the end. We just need to get points now. The way we battled tonight, it just felt really good.”

Perhaps his best save came with 12:55 left in the third, when Lundqvist somehow got across the crease to make a spectacular glove save on defenseman Mike Mottau. He also made pretty glove saves on Rob Niedermayer’s drive at 18:58 of the first, Ilya Kovalchuk early in the first, and on a breakaway by Brian Rolston six minutes into the second. But for the most part, Lundqvist – one of the most positionally aware goaltenders in the league – made his body of work look easy.

“When you know Hanky’s on his game, you know we’re going to have a great chance to win if we get one goal, maybe two,” Callahan said. “It’s uplifting to see Hanky playing like that. He’s been doing it all year for us.”

He’s worked on his glove with Rangers goaltending coach Benoit Allaire during practices, especially after Washington tagged his glove hand during last year’s first round defeat. Saturday night, in front of an excitable crowd of Rangers fans with some red shirts sprinkled in for dramatic effect, the work paid off.

“I don’t spend much time talking to Henrik, I like to just leave him alone,” Tortorella said. “The thing I’ve always loved about him is just the way he competes. He’s one of the best competitors I’ve seen.”

“He goes through the same superstitious things. Typical goalie,” Del Zotto quipped. “It’s tough to talk to him on game-day, he’s really focused. Playing a playoff-type atmosphere against New Jersey and a top goalie battle with him and Marty, he was outstanding tonight.”

MORE AUDIO CLIPS