The Golden Goalie

We’ve watched him all year come up with the big save in the big moment, but nothing was bigger that Henrik Lundqvist’s goaltending on Sunday. Lundqvist made several key stops, the last with 20 seconds left, to preserve Sweden’s 3-2 win over Finland and earn the gold medal. Rangers’ fans can only hope it is a sign of things to come.

Finland had not lost in seven games during the Olympics, but could not overcome some bad penalties and bad defense. With a 1-0 lead in the second period, Finland took four consecutive penalties and the Swedes took advantage scoring two goals to take a 2-1 lead. After tying the game up, Finland got sloppy off the opening face-off of the third period, which allowed Peter Forsberg to make a nice pass to Nicklas Lidstorm for the game winner.

The NHL resumes play again on Tuesday with the Islanders playing the Canadiens. The Devils play again on Wednesday against the Flyers and the Rangers startup on Thursday versus the Flyers. Considering the amount of games and travel the Olympic participants have endured, it may take awhile to get things going again.

Photo by Robert Laberge via NBCOlympics.com