From that point, New York has gone 17-6-3, tied with the Nashville Predators for first in point percentage (.711).
And Lundqvist has gone 15-5-2, tied in wins with Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, behind Braden Holtby of the Capitals (17). Among those who have played at least 20 games in that span, he's third in save percentage (.929) behind Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning (.939) and Frederik Andersen of the Toronto Maple Leafs (.936).
"He's been playing really well since about that time," Staal said. "Just playing very confident. He's competing really hard, and he looks like he's having some fun doing it. We've obviously reaped the rewards of that."
Lundqvist was hard on himself after a 3-2 shootout loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. He allowed a goal to center Frans Nielsen in the shootout, with Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard stopping all three shots he faced.
Slowly, as is his routine, Lundqvist peeled off his equipment, put on a sweatshirt and hat, and took a deep breath.
"It's tough to lose another one in a shootout," said Lundqvist, who lost to the Devils 4-3 in a shootout at Prudential Center on Dec. 21. "It's two in a row for me, so obviously I'll try to be a little bit better."
But he was brilliant much of the game against Detroit, stoning forward Gustav Nyquist on a breakaway, scrambling to his right without a stick to block a shot by forward Tomas Tatar with his body, staying square to stop Nyquist again on a rush chance, robbing forward Andreas Athanasiou by sliding to his right and using his right pad on a bang-bang-blink-you'd-miss-it play.
The Rangers are back in the thick of the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the incredibly competitive Metropolitan Division. With 45 points, they hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, six points behind the first-place Washington Capitals but one ahead of the Islanders, who hold the second wild card, and two ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Now comes the Winter Classic. It's that kind of moment again.
"Hopefully," Lundqvist said, "we can play a really strong game and have another great memory."