Ilya Kovalchuk

Describes motivation process for creativity with emphasis on intrinsic motivation by Corey K Katir

They give Oscars for magnificent performances from such a mundane script. Golden statues are wonderful, but Henrik Lundqvistas repeat masterpieces have the Rangers halfway towards a Prince of Wales Trophy, and perhaps, a trip to Hollywood to seek a silver cup.

The Battle of the Hudson has distilled into a showdown between goaltending greats, with Lundqvist starring once as the night thief, and yesterday, the daylight robber. For the second time in three games, he turned in a perfect game to win the battle of wills with Martin Brodeur.

Riding Lundqvistas 3-0 shutout of the Devils yesterday, the Rangers immediately recaptured home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference finals by taking a 2-1 series lead. They are two victories from the Stanley Cup finals, and Lundqvist has allowed three goals total in three games.

At one point yesterday, the Devils owned a 25-11 shot advantage, but since the game was scoreless, it was really a 25-11 save advantage in Lundqvistas favor, leaving the Devils frustrated, and soon to buckle.

Someone would crack, and in this near-duplicate of Game 1 a a scoreless duel into the third and a 3-0 Rangers victory a it would not be Lundqvist.

aA lot of times, itas the story of the playoffs, a team works hard but gives in,a Ranger defenseman Ryan McDonagh told The Post. aThis could have been an example of that. It was frustrating because we werenat getting anything done.

aThe way Hank was playing, we had to stay with it. Our legs kept coming and in the end, we scored big goals.a

The Devils didnat even score little goals, and now Lundqvist is in their heads. Two of New Jerseyas three goals in this series came off deflections, but since the Devils were so busy being stopped on breakaways and 2-on-1as yesterday, there wasnat much chance to set up tip-ins.

aWe were much better being closest to them when they were shooting from the point and having guys come in for tips,a Lundqvist said of facing fewer deflections. aWe were much closer and that made it a lot tougher for them to make the plays they made in the second game.a

He made miracles in the first, second and third, a total of 36 saves, after making 21 in Game 1.

aTheir goalie was the difference,a Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. aWeare not the first team Lundqvist has done this to.a

Actually, they are. Lundqvist has two shutouts against the Devils in three games, the first time he has blanked an opponent twice in one series.

Goalies collect accomplishments as they move towards greatness. The two shutouts are one cap-feather. A Stanley Cup is another, a requisite. Brodeur is the all-time great now being challenged by the leagueas MVP candidate.

aWhen heas playing well, itas always a challenge,a said Brodeur, who holds the NHL record of 24 playoff shutouts. aIam trying to do my job. I canat do anything about the way heas playing. Just keep my team in and give us a chance to win.a

Lundqvist suggested he enjoyed good fortune yesterday, halting Ilya Kovalchuk on a breakaway and using his stick shaft to deny Zach Parise.

aThey say you earn your luck by working hard. This was a good day,a Lundqvist said after his third shutout of these playoffs, and sixth of his career. aI felt pretty sharp. I saw some action right away and felt comfortable playing this game.

aWe didnat panic, we kept our composure, kept playing the same way. As a goalie, you know sooner or later itas going to turn. Itas going to turn in our favor. Weare going to get a chance. Weare going to get a break. And thatas the feeling I had.a

The Rangers finally broke Brodeur when Dan Girardi ended the scoreless deadlock 3:19 into the third off a power-play faceoff from Brad Richards. Girardi was allowed to skate to the right circle and fire under Brodeuras waffle.

With the spell broken on the Rangersa 18th shot, the 45th of the game, Chris Kreider steered in an insurance goal 1:57 later, his fifth. Ryan Callahan added an empty-netter, and Game 3 duplicated Game 1.

mark.everson@nypost.com

The Rangers are like a heavyweight in the middle rounds of a grueling title bout, conserving energy, throwing metaphorical punches in short bursts, no longer on their toes, but comfortable in the clinches and on the ropes while dug in for the long haul.

They play in spurts now, these Black-and-Blueshirts, and if anyone suggests a let alone insists a this is not the byproduct of the club having been forced to grind through a pair of seven-game series to open this tournament following an 82-game season in which maximum effort was demanded and expended on essentially every shift, then that person is spinning a tale.

But hereas the crux of the matter: The Rangers are surviving this way, are up 2-1 over the Devils in the Eastern finals after yesterdayas Game 3, 3-0 victory at the Rock playing their way, with so much of it made possible by the Swedish security blanket that covers their net.

Historically great goaltenders affix their signatures not only to games, but to their respective teamas style. Ken Dryden and Martin Brodeur won multiple Stanley Cups making critical saves at critical moments behind staunch defenses that yielded relatively few chances. Mike Richter won a Cup and Grant Fuhr won a handful making huge saves behind teams that pressed the attack but were prone to yield the odd-man rush.

And Henrik Lundqvist, the coolest man in the room unless Brad Richards enters it, and then both can claim that mantle; this royal goaltender is made for this Rangers team that often regards the defensive zone as a comfort zone and can spend shifts at a time back there without coming undone or unglued.

Yesterday provided another example of The Kingas value to his tired team, for not only was he unflappable with the puck in his own end for most of the first 30 minutes, Lundqvistas sprawling glove save on an Ilya Kovalchuk breakaway 45 seconds into the second denied the Devils the emotional lift a not to mention the lead a they so desperately required.

aAs a goalie, you donat get the choice of when you want to be there for your team,a Lundqvist told The Post after recording his second shutout of the series and third of the tournament. aThe most important thing for a goalie is to be there when youare needed by the team, not when it might be easiest for you.

aItas exciting for me to know that I can come through when the team needs me. Thatas what this game is about, being there and competing for your teammates.a

Thereas no denying the acompetea plasma that courses through the veins of every Blueblood in the room. There is also no denying the fatigue factor afflicting the Rangers, though no player would ever admit to it and no coach in his right mind would ever offer that up as an explanation or excuse.

It is no coincidence nearly all of the Rangersa best offensive shifts yesterday came with Chris Kreider on the ice, with the 21-year-old winger getting time on the left with both Richards and Marian Gaborik and Derek Stepan and Ryan Callahan, exchanging places for a number of shifts with Carl Hagelin.

Kreider isnat merely a freshman in the league; he is fresh, coming off a 44-game season with Boston College, and it shows on almost every turn out there, strong on the puck, able to keep the puck on his stick and as effective below the hash marks yesterday, notably with Richards and Gaborik, as in open ice.

The Rangers regained their game late in the second and throughout the third. Callahan was indefatigable, breaking through for an empty-netter. Richards recorded a signature Big Moment play by cleanly winning a left wing faceoff from Patrik Elias to set up Dan Girardias power-play score at 3:19 of the third for the gameas first goal.

But in the end, and at the beginning, there was Lundqvist.

There is always Lundqvist for the Rangers, the goaltender who has affixed his signature to the franchise.

Afterward, one of the things everyone wanted to talk to the Rangers about was how efficient they were all five times they were a man down yesterday afternoon. Five times they sent a man to the penalty box a aliving dangerously,a is the way coach John Tortorella put it a and five times they thwarted the Devils.

So, yes: The Rangers are quite effective at the penalty kill.

But what they are really good at is the buzz-kill.

Three times now, the Rangers have proffered hope and optimism to three different teams and three different cities for critical Game 3s, and not only because they did the Senators, the Capitals and the Devils huge solids by losing Game 2s and surrendering home ice.

No, all three times they also spent most of Game 3 building on that hope, whipping enemy arenas into frenzies because they looked so vulnerable, so susceptible, so … beatable. It was 0-0 after two periods in Ottawa. It was 1-1 after five periods in Washington.

And yesterday, in Newark, it was 0-0 after two, same as it been 0-0 after two in Game 1 of this series. It was 0-0 and that felt like the most fortunate kind of optical illusion, because the Devils had spent so much of the gameas opening 40 minutes in the Rangersa zone, had peppered Henrik Lunqvist with shots and scoring chances, with breakaways and odd-man rushes.

aThey were aggressive and they were sharp,a Marc Staal said, aand it helps to have one of the greatest goaltenders in the world on your side.a

It does. And Lundqvist was brilliant, and by the end of this 3-0 victory they were chanting the goalieas name, Rangers fans having driven the Devils fans to the parking lots and the train station and the Turnpike. But as great as he was, as great as he is, this was yet another signature team win in a spring already overstuffed with them, another day when the Rangers played Lucy on another cityas Charlie Brown, pulling the ball away abruptly.

Killing the buzz.

Restoring their own brand of order, and ardor, to the proceedings.

aThey came after us pretty hard,a Ryan Callahan, the captain whose empty-netter tied a pretty bow around the afternoonas festivities, said when it was over. aBut we withstood it. And we weathered it.a

That is what we may well remember the Rangers for at seasonas end, whether the run ends in a few days, in a few weeks or along the Canyon of Heroes. Every few days they are angels of hope, nudging the door ajar ever so slightly for the Senators/Capitals/Devils, getting their own fans paranoid that one big outburst by Alfredsson/Ovechkin/Kovalchuk on home ice could doom them … only to call the cops on the kegger just as things were getting interesting.

In Ottawa, that happened twice, including a season-saver in Game 6. At Washington, Game 3 and its three overtimes proved the Rangers could be resilient (and could actually win in overtime after seven straight postseason failures). And now this. Deadlocked at 0-0 after 40 minutes, the Rangers looked like a different team almost immediately in the third, and Dan Girardi proved it at 3:19 with a power-play goal, and Chris Kreider, of course, underlined it with another goal less than two minutes later.

And suddenly, a day-long party in Newark was flat-lined, and the chants that had filled the building not long before a notably aMartyas better!a a had vanished. One more time, the Rangers had extended an olive branch only to reveal, at the last minute, that it was covered in grease. One more time they had offered a mirage of hope.

One more time, they had helped build a buzz that they were ripe to be taken out.

Then they killed that buzz like a hunter sizing up a nine-point buck.

The Devils looked beaten by gameas end, and so did their supporters. There will be other things to latch onto now, notably the shot Brandon Prust delivered with his elbow to Anton Volchenkovas head, which Devils coach Pete DeBoer unabashedly declared aheadhunting.a Perhaps we will see a goon or two in the Devils lineup tomorrow night.

Maybe that will generate some buzz. Good luck with that.

michael.vaccaro@nypost.com

Personal Injury Lawyer Los Angeles – FREE CONSULTATION by Personal Injury Attorney Los Angeles – Legal Defenders, Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyers – Law Offices of Burg and Brock, who have won over $100 million in verdicts and settlements for clients

Page took 3 seconds to load.