from Katie Strang of ESPN,

When Lundqvist plays like “The King,” as he did Monday night in Game 2, making a whopping 40 saves to lead the Rangers to a 3-1 win and 2-0 series lead, there is little hope for an opposing team.

That sense of futility was on display after the game, when Habs coach Michel Therrien essentially threw up his arms in recognition of Lundqvist’s postseason prowess.

“The reason we lost the game was Lundqvist,” Therrien said. “Lundqvist was phenomenal. Phenomenal. [He] stole the game.”

The 32-year-old Lundqvist was superb for the Blueshirts, especially when the team was swarmed in their own end by a Canadiens team that came out with the sort of desperation and desire that was conspicuously absent from Game 1. He allowed the Rangers to escape the first period with a 2-1 lead. He was again flawless in the third, preserving a two-goal lead when the Habs buzzed the net on a 6-on-4 in the final five minutes of the game.

To think, it was only a few days ago that Lundqvist was getting peppered, not with shots, but with persistent questions about his struggles at the Bell Centre.

Those questions have since ceased.

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