NEW YORK, April 12 (UPI) -- Henrik Lundqvist had 30 saves Thursday and took a shutout into the third period, lifting the New York Rangers to a 4-2 win over Ottawa in their playoff opener.
The Rangers finished on top of the Eastern Division and looked every bit the favorite by rolling to a 4-0 advantage.
Lundqvist finished the regular season with the third-most wins in the NHL (39), the fourth best goals-against average (1.97) and the fifth-best save percentage (.930).
He brought only a 15-20 career playoff record into the game, however, and was under pressure to perform at his regular-season level in order to help the Rangers advance.
Lundqvist was given plenty of support from goals by Ryan Callahan in the first period, Marian Gaborik and Brian Boyle in the second and Brad Richards 2:15 into the third.
Milan Michalek broke up Lundqvist's bid for a shutout with 9:55 to play and Erik Condra also scored for the Senators with 2:19 to go.
New York, seeking its first playoff series victory in four years, will host Game 2 on Saturday.
Craig Anderson gave up all four goals on 31 shots. This is the first post-season meeting between the Rangers and Senators.
