This season, the New York Rangers were out of the top 10 in the NHL in goals-against for the first time since 2003-04.
The New York Rangers had a 2.62 GAA, which was only good for 15th in the league. If you remember, the 2003-04 season was the year before the strike. After the strike, Henrik Lundqvist emerged as the prolific goaltender we know today, and the Rangers have been in the top 10 in the league ever since: that is 10 straight years, an impressive run. So, what went wrong? Here are a two ways they can improve their GAA and find themselves right back in the top ten.
Henrik Lundqvist on the Penalty Kill
The penalty kill may not appear to specifically relate to goaltending at first, but the splits are so drastic that this is worthy of further research. Obviously the save percentage of a goaltender is going to be lower shorthanded, but this season was an incredibly poor season for Lundqvist. He allowed a league-leading 46 shorthanded goals (tied with the Florida Panther’s Roberto Luongo), which was one more than the 45 goals he allowed his rookie season. However, he had an .874 SV% on the penalty kill his rookie season, which is not terrible. Compare that to the .840 SV% from last season and one has to wonder how it got that low? The only goalies with a worse save percentage and at least 40 games are San Jose’s James Reimer (.833 SV%) and Philadelphia’s Steve Mason (.829%). Not the sort of company you associate with Lundqvist.
Comparatively, his .934 SV% at even strength was the second best in his career. The only goalies with at least 40 games and a higher save percentage at even strength are coincidentally Roberto Luongo (.937 SV%) and Reimer (.938 SV%). Yes, Reimer had the highest even strength save percentage amongst all goalies.
Lundqvist may be getting up in age and clearly not in his prime, but a quick fix to his career worst 2.48 GAA for last season could simply be an improved penalty kill. Finishing 26th in the NHL is the Rangers’ worst finish since the 2012-13 season, when they finished in 15th. The New York Rangers were embarrassed in the final two playoff games against the Penguins, but were equally embarrassed on the power play, in which the Penguins tallied eight power play goals to the Rangers’ two. That was a huge edge in the series.
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Again, this may not be all on Lundqvist, but improvement must be made on the man down for the Rangers to be considered an elite team. Clearly Lundqvist can’t stop the quality of these power play chances, but he has proven over the years to come up with timely saves to kill a penalty. Last year he was far from that form, unfortunately.
Give Antti Raanta More Starts
This is aspect is twofold. One, Antti Raanta was pretty darn good for the Rangers in the 2015-16 season. And two, Henrik Lundqvist is 34 years old. Let’s start with Raanta. The 27-year-old Finn came into last season with only 34 career starts in two years with the Blackhawks, but he filled the back up role admirably. And it is not often a back up has pressure, but with how well Cam Talbot played the year before, New York Rangers fans had expectations that Raanta would play just as well. I think we can rest assured that he is an adequate backup. In 18 starts (and 24 total games), Raanta posted a 2.25 GAA with a .919 SV%. Not quite the year Talbot had, but then again, that team also won the President’s Trophy.
In total, Raanta started only 18 games, compared to 64 for Lundqvist. That is the most starts for Lundqvist since the 2010-11 season, where he had 67. At 34, those numbers should be going down, not up. He is not the workhorse he once was. This is a team whose only mission is to win the Cup, so he needs to be fresh and ready to go come mid-April, where, in the playoffs, he would start every game (barring injury, of course). Knock a few games off that mark and it could make a world of a difference.
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Conclusion
Goaltenders can only do so much. As New York Rangers fans, we have been blessed to witness Lundqvist through the years, so a mediocre year like the most-recent season can give pause to every fan. However, although out of his prime, he can still provide quality goaltending. I think a smaller workload is key to keep him fresh. Lundqvist is the ultimate competitor—and I would not put anything past him—but wear and tear is natural. He is only human, you know? And as for his play on the penalty kill, no matter how poorly the Rangers penalty kill unit is next season, I expect him to improve on his abysmal .840 SV% on the man down. He prides himself on excellence, so I would not expect numbers like that next season.