New York Rangers: 5 Resons They Defeated Montreal in Round 1

Henrik Lundqvist

Lundqvist was far none the best player in the series on either team and after a horrendous regular season in which he finished outside the top 30 in most goalie statistical categories, he outplayed Vezina candidate Carey Price–although Price shouldn’t be a candidate over Cam Talbot.

Lundqvist posted a 1.70 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage in the first round, two numbers that are absolutely staggering. At least a third of Montreal’s goals came at the hands of a Nick Holden-Marc Staal turnover, too, which makes what Hank was able to do even more impressive.

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A lot of people had begun ruling out the Rangers’ Stanley Cup Window and ruled out the possibility of Lundqvist continuing to be at the peak of his game after such a rough season. Boy, were they wrong.

In fact, if Lundqvist can continue to carry that play forward in the playoffs, the Rangers are as good a contender as any team.