Henrik's hurtin', won't play tonight

[rinkrat]

Change of plan: It’ll be Steve Valiquette in the nets tonight for the Rangers in Calgary, not Henrik Lundqvist, who has what seems to be a right leg injury and will be held out of his second straight game tonight. Lundqvist was out there for the morning skate at the Saddledome and then in the trainer’s room for a good hour afterward, and he said the way his injury felt it comes as no surprise to him that he won’t be playing tonight against the Flames.

“Just a minor little thing that’s been bugging me, so good time to get a break,” he said. “We’re not playing until Thursday, so couple days off here and good to go.”

A “couple days” will actually be at least eight; Lundqvist last played Tuesday in Vancouver, giving up three goals in a loss, and the Rangers don’t play again until Thursday against Atlanta at the Garden. He said the injury has been a lingering problem and that he wants to stay off it so it doesn’t become a bigger one.

“Every time you play there’s never an excuse not being ready, so I’m not gonna say it bothered me (in Vancouver), but it’s been a minor thing for a little bit, so that’s why a little break here is good,” he said. Asked if he could play tonight were this a playoff game, he said: “Yeah, I would say so. This is more for the long run. It’s a long year, so I want to try to stay fresh. When you have a long year, it’s good to have good planning. It’s just a good decision, I think.

“It’s good timing for it, and Vallie played good the other night, so might as well keep it going.”

Valiquette stopped 26 shots in his second victory of the season on Thursday in Edmonton, and said he only found out this morning that he would be starting tonight. It is only the second time in his career that he’ll start back-to-back games - the other time came in 2007-08, on Feb. 9 (a 2-0 shutout at Philly) and Feb. 10 (a 3-2 OT loss in Washington).