Lundqvist Shuts Down Stars, Twin Brother

Henrik Lundqvist was unusually distracted on the busiest night of his young NHL career. His eyes and mind wandered but his focus remained on the puck. The New York Rangers' second-year goalie made

Friday, December 15th 2006, 6:15 am

By: News On 6

Henrik Lundqvist was unusually distracted on the busiest night of his young NHL career. His eyes and mind wandered but his focus remained on the puck. The New York Rangers' second-year goalie made a career-high 43 saves in a 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars, who added his twin brother to the roster before the game.

``I never see players out there, but I noticed every time he was on the ice,'' Lundqvist said of his brother Joel, who played his fifth NHL game. ``I was nervous every time he was out there. Getting the chance to play against him in the NHL is a special feeling.''

Joel Lundqvist was called up from Iowa of the AHL earlier Thursday after Stars center Mike Modano was placed on injured reserve (hip flextor/groin). He played only 5:44 and didn't get off a shot at his more famous sibling.

Matt Cullen and Karel Rachunek scored two goals each as the Rangers stretched their winning streak to a season-high five games.

But on this night, the Lundqvists had people talking.

``That's MVP goaltending, that's Stanley Cup goaltending,'' Rangers coach Tom Renney said. ``He was all-everything.''

In other NHL games, it was Buffalo 2, Florida 1; Boston 5, New Jersey 3; Montreal 4, Tampa Bay 2; Nashville 6, Ottawa 0; Detroit 3, Chicago 2; Edmonton 3, Minnesota 1; Phoenix 5, Columbus 4 in a shootout; Vancouver 3, Calgary 1; and Los Angeles 4, San Jose 2.

Henrik and Joel formed just the third pair of NHL twins to square off against each other. Rich and Ron Sutter were the last set to do it March 14, 1994. Patrik and Peter Sundstrom played against each other 18 times.

Rachunek scored one short-handed goal and another on a power play for the Rangers, who were outshot 45-20 and had to defend Dallas' season-high 11 power plays.

Sergei Zubov had a first-period, power-play goal for Dallas, which lost for the third time in four games.

``We had plenty of shots and plenty power plays, but we don't seem to be getting the timely goals we got at the start of the season,'' Stars captain Brenden Morrow said. ``We outplayed them for a while but we couldn't capitalize. It looks good on paper to have 45 shots, but you've got to bear down in front of the net.''

Bruins 5, Devils 3

At Boston, Patrice Bergeron scored two goals and Brad Stuart snapped a tie early in the third period for the Bruins.

Brad Boyes added a goal and two assists, and Petr Tenkrat also scored for the Bruins, who broke a two-game losing streak. Boston scored three power-play goals and defeated New Jersey at home for the first time since March 12, 2003, despite squandering leads of 2-0 and 3-2.

Patrik Elias, Jamie Langenbrunner and Mike Rupp scored for the Devils, who lost their second straight after winning five in a row.

Sabres 2, Panthers 1

At Buffalo, Maxim Afinogenov scored a power-play goal early in the third period, lifting the Sabres.

Thomas Vanek also scored, and Ryan Miller made 32 saves for the Sabres, who won their third straight.

Jozef Stumpel scored for Florida, which has dropped four in a row.

Canadiens 4, Lightning 2

At Montreal, Cristobal Huet made 41 saves, and Saku Koivu scored twice in the third period as the Canadiens rallied.

Huet stopped 17 of 18 shots in the first, 14 of 15 in the second, and all 10 in the third. The Lightning finished with a 43-20 advantage overall.

Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis scored for Tampa Bay, which has lost three straight and seven of eight.

Predators 6, Senators 0

At Nashville, Tenn., Steve Sullivan had a natural hat trick in the second period, and Scott Hartnell added two goals to lead the Predators.

It was Sullivan's sixth NHL hat trick and his third with the Predators. He scored the three goals in a span of 5:56, the quickest for any player in Nashville history.

The Senators, without captain Daniel Alfredsson and defenseman Wade Redden, lost for the fourth time in five games.

Chris Mason, in his 10th straight start, made 22 saves in his second shutout of the season.

Red Wings 3, Blackhawks 2

At Chicago, Henrik Zetterberg, Daniel Cleary and Mikael Samuelsson scored, and Dominik Hasek made 29 saves to lead the visiting Red Wings, who won for the fourth time in five games.

Jeff Hamilton and Tuomo Ruutu scored for the Blackhawks, who fell to 5-1-3 under new coach Denis Savard.

Detroit forward Tomas Kopecky broke his collarbone 53 seconds into the third period. He will have surgery on Friday and is expected to be sidelined up to three months.

Coyotes 5, Blue Jackets 4, SO

At Glendale, Ariz., Mike Comrie scored on the final attempt of the shootout to beat Columbus.

Mikael Tellqvist made 21 saves in regulation and stopped all three shootout attempts for the Coyotes, who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Comrie and Ed Jovanovski each had a goal and an assist, and Owen Nolan and Derek Morris also scored for the Coyotes.

Rick Nash had a goal and two assists for the Blue Jackets, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Oilers 3, Wild 1

At Edmonton, Alberta, Jarret Stoll and Shawn Horcoff scored 14 seconds apart late in the third period for the Oilers.

The Wild took a 1-0 advantage when Todd White scored on Minnesota's first shot of the game.

Kings 4, Sharks 2

At San Jose, Calif., Anze Kopitar scored two goals and Barry Brust made 34 saves in his first NHL victory for Los Angeles.

Derek Armstrong and Michael Cammalleri also scored for the Kings.

Mike Grier added a late goal, and Vesa Toskala stopped 27 shots for the Sharks, whose three-game winning streak was snapped.

Canucks 3, Flames 1

At Vancouver, British Columbia, Henrik Sedin scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and Roberto Luongo made 20 saves to lift the Canucks at home.

Brendan Morrison added an insurance goal 8:40 into the third as the Canucks won consecutive games for the first time in more than three weeks.

Matthew Lombardi scored for the Flames, who have lost five straight on the road.