Blue Line Station
Fansided

New York Rangers: Where does Lundqvist rank among NHL goalies?

By Nicholas Zararis

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 07: Henrik Lundqvist
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 07: Henrik Lundqvist /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 17: Jonathan Quick #32 of the Los Angeles Kings allows a goal to Brayden McNabb #3 of the Vegas Golden Knights for a 1-0 lead during the second period in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Staples Center on April 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The Golden Knights would win the game 1-0 and sweep the series 4-0. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 17: Jonathan Quick #32 of the Los Angeles Kings allows a goal to Brayden McNabb #3 of the Vegas Golden Knights for a 1-0 lead during the second period in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Staples Center on April 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The Golden Knights would win the game 1-0 and sweep the series 4-0. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

The pretenders

There is a very rare air of goaltenders that are able to snake by with above average stats on quality teams. To outright say these goalies are benefits of their systems may be an insult to the biggest system goalie of all time, Martin Brodeur, but nonetheless, the point remains. On a good team that has the ability to dictate the flow and pace of the game, a mediocre goaltender can get by.

Take the postseasons of Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings and Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators. During the course of the regular season, both had the statistics of an elite goaltender. Rinne won the Vezina trophy as the league’s best goaltender while Quick won the Jennings trophy for being the goalie that allowed the fewest goals. Under a closer examination there are tell tale signs that neither deserves a spot within the top ten.

Take both goalies performance in the postseason as the true measure of skill. The expansion Golden Knights swept Quick in the first round and later on beat Rinne and his Predators. While Quick didn’t last long enough in a series to be pulled for his backup, Rinne was pulled for Juuse Saros multiple times during the course of a seven game series.

Home/Editorials