Former Rangers defenseman was having good night until epic Avalanche collapse in Game 7
Ryan Lindgren certainly knows about highs and lows in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 27-year-old defenseman was on both ends of the spectrum many times during his tenure with the New York Rangers.
But nothing quite like what he experienced with his current team, the Colorado Avalanche, on Saturday night.
Lindgren played a big role in helping the Avalanche skate to a 2-0 lead early in the third period of their decisive Game 7 on the road against the Dallas Stars. But he was also in the middle of an epic collapse, when the Avalanche allowed four unanswered goals — including three to former Colorado forward Mikko Rantanen — in a devastating 4-2 loss that ended their season.
“It’s pretty shocking,” Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon said in a stunned postgame locker room. “Felt like we were in total control and then Mikko, credit to him, he made some amazing plays. He was a difference-maker and he took over. I don’t know; I’m in shock to be honest with you. Felt like we were in complete control of the game the whole time and just lost it. They were missing their best [defenseman in Miro Heiskanen] and maybe their best forward (Jason Robertson), so we still couldn’t beat them. Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Lindgren was on ice for each of Colorado’s first two goals. The first was a short-handed goal by Josh Manson at 9:50 of the second period, when Lindgren was the last man back defending and had a good look at Logan O’Connor’s takeaway and Manson’s rush back the other way.
Adam Fox’s former defense partner then made a play early in the third period which likely made his buddy proud. Skating with the puck along the blue line, Lindgren drew a Dallas defender toward him before making a blind drop pass right on to the stick of MacKinnon, who burst into the offensive zone on left wing.
MacKinnon did the rest, taking it to the net for a gorgeous finish that made it 2-0 Colorado 31 seconds into the third period. The assist was Lindgren’s third of the series.
It didn’t go well for Lindgren nor the Avalanche the rest of the way, though.
Related: Mollie Walker explains why Rangers had ‘no sparkle … magic’ this season
Former Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren is among top free-agent defensemen this offseason
Rantanen put on his Superman cape and Lindgren definitely didn’t have Kryptonite to stop or even slow down the Stars forward when Dallas quickly tied the game.
On Rantanen’s first goal at 7:49, Lindgren appeared to have good positioning at and just inside his own blue line. Rantanen had the puck and approached with speed. As Lindgren backed off, Rantanen cut to the left and Dallas forward Sam Steel skated through to the right, clearing both Lindgren and teammate Artturi Lehkonen out of the play. Rantanen had the room he needed and made it 2-1.
Six minutes later, Lindgren was out there on the penalty kill and was victimized by Rantanen, who’s second of the night tied the score 2-2 at 13:46. As Rantanen entered the zone, Lindgren turned sideways and the Stars forward blew past the former Rangers defenseman. Rantanen then carried the puck around the net, attempted a wraparound and got a lucky bounce when the puck hit the skate of Colorado defenseman Sam Girard and into the net.
With Lindgren on the bench, Rantanen assisted on Wyatt Johnston’s go-ahead goal at 16:04 and then finished off the hat trick — and the Avalanche — with an empty-net goal at 19:57.
It was a bitter end to Lindgren’s season, which began with him sustaining a jaw injury in a preseason fight and missing several games to begin his seventh and final campaign on Broadway. After starting on the second pair, Lindgren was restored to his usual spot next to Fox, until he was traded to the Avalanche on March 1.
An unrestricted free agent, Lindgren was not going to be re-signed by the Rangers, so they moved him and Jimmy Vesey to Colorado for for defenseman Calvin de Haan and forward Juuso Parssinen. De Haan caused some drama with comments about the organization after the Rangers scratched him the final 20 games of the season. Parssinen was scratched in 12 of 23 games, but did begin to produce at the every end of the season. The Rangers signed Parssinen to a two-year contract Friday.
Vesey, also a UFA this summer, was a depth piece in Colorado. He had a goal and an assist in 10 games after the trade, and didn’t play at all in the playoffs against Dallas.
Lindgren is one of the top defensemen available in NHL free agency this summer, joining the likes of Aaron Ekblad, Vladislav Gavrikov and Ivan Provorov. He finished with an NHL career-high 22 points this season, including two goals and one assist in 18 games on Colorado’s second defense pair. In the playoffs, his plus-5 rating tied for best on the Avalanche and his 12 blocked shots were second most.
More About:New York Rangers News