New York Rangers: 5 Reasons why Lundqvist won’t win the Stanley Cup

Backup Goaltender –

Over the past several years, Lundqvist and the New York Rangers should be thankful for their backup goaltenders. Benoit Allaire has been the Rangers goalie coach for over 10 years now and has done a phenomenal job during his tenure.  Since the 2011-2012 season, the backup goaltenders have produced 11+ wins in five of those seasons.

Martin Biron, Cam Talbot, and Antti Raanta have all stepped up and produced for the Rangers when they needed to. Talbot produced a 21-9-4 record the year the Rangers made a run to the Stanley Cup final after Lundqvist suffered a significant injury. The key was that Lundqvist was able to rest and come back at full health without having to worry about Talbot’s play.

Rest is key for a starting goaltender and especially at Lundqvist’s age. The Rangers have played 16 games this season and Lundqvist has already started 13 of those. If the Rangers can’t trust Ondrej Pavelec to start games then they will be in trouble later in the season. Pavelec not only needs to start more games, he needs to win more games for the Rangers.

If he doesn’t, the Rangers will be at risk of either Lundqvist running out of gas or missing the playoffs entirely.