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Lundqvist entered playoffs with unfinished business

New York Rangers v Montreal Canadiens - Game Two

Henrik Lundqvist

Bruce Bennett

Two more wins. That’s what New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist needs to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in his career.

He’s been this close once before, when the Rangers faced the New Jersey Devils in the 2012 Eastern Conference Final. He doesn’t want a repeat of that six-game series loss.

“You don’t want to sit at the end of the year and feel like you had more to give,” Lundqvist said, per the Toronto Sun. “That’s what I felt a little bit the last time we were in the conference final. We didn’t reach our full potential, and it was extremely disappointing to end the season like that.

“My goal right now is to really try to reach my full potential and inspire teammates and everybody that’s helping us right now to kind of reach that level and see how far it takes us.”

He certainly did that in the Rangers’ 3-1 victory on Monday. He turned aside 40 of 41 shots and even earned the praise of Canadiens coach Michel Therrien.

Nearly three months removed from his 32nd birthday, Lundqvist’s storyline is that a Stanley Cup championship is the only glaring omission left on his resume. With the way he’s played in the 2014 postseason, that might not be the case for much longer.

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