The New York Rangers really had no business even coming close to winning this road game against one of the best teams in the league, but they almost did.
We’e said it before, this team has no quit. Badly outplayed in the first period the New York Rangers came back from a 2-0 deficit to go ahead 3-2 in the third period. The skill, speed and depth of the Jets came through and they won the game on two third period goals.
The Rangers actually outplayed the Jets over the last two periods, outshooting the home team 27-17. They were 2-4 on the power play and killed both Jets man advantages. Again, it was Mika Zibanejad who led the way with two goals along with a second unit power play by Pavel Buchnevich.
This was a night when the forwards and defense played a solid, responsible game. The one element that they needed was a top notch performance by their goaltender and they didn’t get it.
It’s tough to say this after so many years when Henrik Lundqvist was the only thing that stood between victory and defeat, but Lundqvist lost the game for the Rangers. Three of the four Jets goals were stoppable.
The King is slumping
It’s not to say that Lundqvist did not make his share of outstanding saves. In the first period he allowed two goals including one that he might have had on a better night, but he also faced a barrage of 19 shots. Mark Schiefele is an elite goal scorer and he had both Winnipeg goals in the first period.
Lundqvist’s timing isn’t great with this game coming on the heels of the best performance by a Ranger goalie this season. The volume of the calls for Alexandar Georgiev to play more will increase especially if he builds on that game. Georgiev has allowed five goals in his last three games. Lundqvist has allowed nine.
Lundqvist is two weeks shy of his 37th birthday. He is on pace to have his worst professional season with his lowest save percentage and highest goals against average. Sure, you can blame the team that plays in front of him, but there is no doubt his play is slipping.
It puts David Quinn in a tough position. Does he play his future Hall of Famer or the unflappable kid who could be the Rangers’ future? The fact that Lundqvist has two more years left on his contract at $8.5 million a year could become an issue.
Next year could be an even bigger issue. If the Rangers can lure Igor Shestyorkin from the KHL and he is NHL ready, the team will have the ugly issue of having three NHL goaltenders. It could be uglier if their highest paid veteran is the worst of the three. Even if Shestyorkin spends his first season in the AHL, this will be an issue in 2020-21, Lundqvist’s last contract year.
How Lundqvist responds to this stretch of mediocre goaltending will be a storyline to follow the rest of this season.