NEW YORK — In hockey, blocking a heavy shot is called “eating.” You eat a big slap shot, you’re taking one for the team and it’s appreciated by everyone.
Almost no one does more eating most nights on this Rangers team than Ryan Lindgren. He absorbs all manner of painful objects: Big shots, jostles from opposing forwards, and the occasional fist. It’s the reason why Ranger fans voted him the winner of the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, an honor the team has given out since 1987-88 and is named for the late New York Police Detective who was injured in the line of duty in 1986 and died in 2017.
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McDonald was a lifelong Rangers fan and a fixture at the end-of-season award ceremony for nearly 30 years; his son, Conor, an NYPD lieutenant, does the honors now. It’s an emotional night for the team and its fans and Lindgren, the Ranger who plays with perhaps the most emotion of anyone, certainly made sense as the winner this year.
“Guys get glory for points and scoring, people obviously look at that, but there’s other intangibles that are needed to win games and he brings those,” Adam Fox said of Lindgren, his roommate up until this season and longtime BFF. “It’s good the fans are able to recognize that.”
There’s a time for extra effort and there’s a time to maybe back off, though. To not eat. And in overtime Monday, in a game the Rangers could surely have used the second point to give themselves a glimmer of hope for home ice but really had nothing left to play for, Lindgren did what he always does when faced with a big shot: He ate it. Almost literally.
Ryan Lindgren just took a Jeff Skinner one-timer to the face.
He got up right away and skated to the locker room, hopefully he’s okay.
Scary moment in MSG. pic.twitter.com/OBeYGLlXLg
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) April 11, 2023
Lindgren skated off immediately to the locker room but was back on the bench for the shootout, which the Rangers didn’t win. But everyone was at least able to exhale when they saw Lindgren walking down the bench, nodding to his teammates, who might have been in a state of disbelief. Lindgren said he couldn’t say what happened or how Jeff Skinner’s shot didn’t explode his face; Gerard Gallant said Lindgren’s face shield and the side of his helmet took most of the hit, leaving Lindgren with a small cut on his cheek.
“Got me a little bit but not as bad as I thought,” he said. “I’d say it’s not the best idea but probably just instinct at that point. It’s overtime, I see the guy going for a one-timer. … Yeah, in hindsight, it’s probably a little dumb. But it is what it is.”
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Lindgren has 352 blocked shots since he became a Rangers regular in 2019-20, a far cry from Jacob Trouba’s 578 in that same span but still top 75 in the league. Lindgren’s face, most times obscured by his Civil War-era neck beard, is usually nicked up in plenty of places by this time of the year.
For all his bumps and bruises, Lindgren rarely misses much time — at least until six weeks ago. He took a borderline hit from the Caps’ T.J. Oshie on Feb. 25 and missed 17 of the next 18 games, a painful absence at any time but particularly then since the Rangers were contorting their roster to prepare for Patrick Kane’s arrival. The Rangers went 12-3-2 without Lindgren, which is impressive, but there was definitely something missing.
“You’re going to struggle a little bit without one of your top defensemen,” Fox said. “It took a little bit to adjust. It’s obviously better when he’s in the lineup.”
And better when he’s not putting his face in front of 80 mph blasts. Fox was asked what was going through his mind as he saw Lindgren block that shot, then race to the room with his glove over his face.
“You can say it’s a meaningless game, but it’s the way he plays,” Fox said. “He’s not just going to give up a goal and let them get a shot off. That’s why he got that award today.”
(Photo of Ryan Lindgren receiving the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award from Steven’s son Conor McDonald: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
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