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Lundqvist, Rangers try to solve Blues

Oct 9, 2014 - 3:12 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - There aren't many goaltenders in the NHL as good as New York Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist, one of the key parts to the club's run to the Stanley Cup Finals last season.

But with all that Lundqvist has accomplished over his nine-year career, beating the St. Louis Blues remains missing from his resume.

Lundqvist will look to get the better of the Blues on Thursday night when the clubs kick off their season at Scottrade Center.

New York made a big move in the summer of 2013 by firing head coach John Tortorella and replacing him with former Vancouver bench boss Alain Vigneault. The change in philosophies worked following a slow start, with New York advancing to the Cup Finals for the first time since winning its last championship in 1994.

Though their most recent trip ended with a five-game loss to the Los Angeles Kings, the Rangers still enter this season as one of the top clubs in the Eastern Conference despite the offseason departures of Brian Boyle, Brad Richards, Benoit Pouliot and Anton Stralman.

Lundqvist is still around and will be for some time after signing a seven-year extension on Dec. 4 of last year. He went 33-24-5 with a 2.36 goals against average and .920 save percentage in 63 games last year, but did lose his lone start versus the Blues last season, a 2-1 decision in New York on Jan. 23.

That left Lundqvist 0-4-0 with a 2.82 GAA and .905 save percentage in five career meetings with the Blues, including four starts, and St. Louis is the lone club he has yet to beat in his career.

St. Louis, in fact, has won three straight and seven of its last eight versus New York.

The Rangers look to alter that trend tonight, but will be without center Derek Stepan, who suffered a broken fibula in training camp. That hurt the depth of a New York offense that still features Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis.

Nash struggled to just 39 points over 65 games last season, though he did notch 26 goals, and then scored only three times in the postseason.

The Rangers also begin the season with St. Louis in the mix after acquiring the former Lightning forward on March 5 for Ryan Callahan and draft picks. He got off to a slow start following the deal, but ended up with eight goals and seven assists in the postseason.

The trade of Callahan left New York without a captain and Vigneault opted not to the fill the void until recently as defenseman Ryan McDonagh was named to the role. Named the 27th captain in team history, McDonagh is coming off a season in which he set career highs with 14 goals, 29 assists, 43 points and an average of 24 minutes and 49 seconds of ice time.

New York will see a pair of highly-anticipated debuts tonight in veteran defenseman Dan Boyle, signed to a two-year deal this past offseason, and training camp star Anthony Duclair.

The 19-year-old Duclair led the Rangers with five points in five preseason games and is the first teenager to make the roster since Michael Del Zotto in 2009-10.

After beginning last season on a nine-game road trip as Madison Square Garden finished renovations, the Rangers will visit Columbus on Saturday before returning home for four in a row.

The Blues, meanwhile, hope to put a disappointing finish to last season behind them tonight. They set a franchise record with 52 wins, but lost their final six regular-season games and were then knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by the Chicago Blackhawks.

It marked the second straight opening-round exit for St. Louis and left the club with just one playoff series win under head coach Ken Hitchcock since he took over early in the 2011-12 campaign.

The Blues attempted to solidify a deep playoff run last season by getting goaltender Ryan Miller at the trade deadline, but it didn't pay off and Miller left as a free agent.

With Jaroslav Halak dealt to the St. Louis Blues in the trade for Miller, Brian Elliott opens the season as the undisputed No. 1 in net after sharing time with Halak.

Elliott, signed to a three-year extension, has posted a 1.86 GAA and .927 save percentage since joining the Blues in 2011-12 and is 1-3-1 lifetime versus the Rangers with a 2.57 GAA and .903 save percentage in five starts.

General manager Doug Armstrong changed course this past summer and opted to add to his offense in the form of center Paul Stastny, inked to a four-year deal. Stastny had 25 goals and 60 points with Colorado last season.

A St. Louis native, he becomes the third Stastny to play for the Blues, following his Hall of Fame father Peter and brother Yan.

Stastny joins a St. Louis offense which produced five 20-plus goal-scorers in 2013-14, led by Alexander Steen's career-high 33 markers that helped earn him a three-year extension midway through the season.

Steen has scored in three straight games against the Rangers with seven points in that span.

Jaden Schwartz, 22, took a big step forward in his development last season, as the young winger notched 25 goals and added 31 assists over 80 games, and the Blues also have some serious offensive punch from the blue line thanks to the presence of Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk and Jay Bouwmeester.

St. Louis will host Calgary on Saturday and then hit the road for three straight.