Should “The King” rule in Game One?

The New York Rangers carried three goalies for more than two months before the NHL suspended play last March. If the league resumes with the playoffs, as expected, only one deserves to start Game One for the Blueshirts.

When the puck finally drops on an NHL ice sheet again, it could be in the playoffs capping the 2019-20 season and with it, perhaps, the tenure of New York Rangers’ goaltender Henrik Lundqvist on Broadway.

For the past 15 years, “The King” became a lock for the Hockey Hall of Fame, holder of every major franchise goaltending record, took the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Finals and saved the bacon of invisible teammates many times.

These NHL playoffs could be the last for Lundqvist, if not for his career, certainly as a Ranger barring unforseen circumstances. “The King” deserves one more shot to reign. He should at least start Game One.

Doesn’t matter the opponent, or the venue, or whether the series is best-of-whatever.

Doesn’t matter that, at 38 years old, he’s 14 years the senior of teammates Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev. Doesn’t matter that the latter two played better than he did this season, either.

None of that matters because that was the regular season.

The playoffs are different. Every game matters. Excruciating pain from broken bones and torn muscles takes the bench to battling on and winning. Each shift and every save are magnified by a thousand.

Which is why experience matters. And Lundqvist is the only of the three with NHL playoff credentials.

As Blue Line Station recently noted, Shesterkin performed reasonably well in the playoffs for SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL last season after returning from a 27-day layoff, indeed a nice accomplishment for the young Russian.

But, frankly, the KHL isn’t the NHL, where Shesterkin wasn’t sharp in his return after a 14-day layoff due to injury.

You’ll recall the rookie suffered a non-displaced rib fracture in a car accident on Feb. 23 and missed the next six games. He returned on March 7 and allowed five goals on 23 shots to New Jersey. The Devils had just 189 goals this season, fifth fewest in the NHL.

Shesterkin won his first start after the Rangers’ bye week (Jan. 22-30), but the victory came against Detroit, which had the fewest wins and goals (145) in the league. Not exactly a true barometer of how the kid will rebound from this layoff.

This isn’t a knock on the Russian rookie, who played well overall in 12 matches for the Rangers, posting a 10-2 record, 2.52 goals-against average and .932 save percentage, and has a bright future. It’s a reminder that was just 12 NHL games.

Georgiev also played well, recording a 17-14-2 record, 3.04 GAA and .910 SP. Since joining the Blueshirts (and NHL) in 2017-18, he’s appeared in 77 games, starting 71 of them. However, he has no NHL playoff experience.

Lundqvist had a subpar season, going 10-12-3 with 3.16 GAA and .905 SP. However, he’s also appeared in 128 NHL playoff games, starting 115 of them. He’s got nearly as many postseason wins (61) as Shesterkin and Georgiev have NHL starts (83).

This layoff just might be the rest that rejuvenates “The King”.

Not etched in ice

If the Rangers do what’s sensible (and right) by starting Lundqvist in at least the opening game, they can always switch to one of the kids should Lundqvist play poorly or get injured.

The Rangers don’t owe Lundqvist anything, mind you.  He’s been well compensated and will someday see his No. 30 retired to the rafters of Madison Square Garden.

One can even credibly argue he’s been overpaid the past few seasons after signing a contract in December 2013 that committed the Rangers to an annual $8.5 million cap hit starting in 2014-15 and running through 2020-21.

But in the postseason, experience counts.

Yes, Patrick Roy and Matt Murray (among others) won the Stanley Cup as rookie starters without much previous NHL experience.

Roy appeared in 48 games before leading Montreal to (another) championship in 1986. Murray had all of 13 matches prior to guiding Pittsburgh to the title 30 years later.

However, Roy and Murray played for loaded teams, each blessed with high-end youth and veteran leadership that provided tremendous depth.

Besides Roy himself, that Canadiens team had four other players whose careers were punctuated by induction into the Hockey Hall Fame, including defensemen Chris Chelios and Larry Robinson.

Murray’s Penguins featured future Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, plus an arsenal of Kris Letang, Phil Kessel, and Chris Kunitz and a handful of grinders.

And let’s not kid ourselves – for every Patrick Roy and Matt Murray there’s a Felix Potvin and John Vanbiesbrouck.

As you know, “Beezer” won the Vezina Trophy in 1986 before he and the Rangers were defeated by Roy’s Habs in five games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“Felix the Cat” nearly led the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Finals in 1993 but lost the Western Conference to Wayne Gretzky’s Los Angeles Kings.

Final thoughts

The Rangers should start Henrik Lundqvist in Game One of the playoffs, at the very least.

It’s one thing to phase out a franchise icon during the regular season. It’s quite another to take away what’s likely to be his last NHL postseason as a New York Ranger.

It’s probably a stretch to say it could be “Hank’s” final chance at winning a Stanley Cup with the Blueshirts given the depth and experience of teams like Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington, St. Louis and Colorado.

But he deserves a shot at starting things off.

Shesterkin will get a chance to get his skates snowy in postseason play soon enough — maybe even this season if the Rangers do start Lundqvist in the first game and he bombs. But starting Shesterkin in the playoff opener would be an insult to “The King” and a bad look for the Blueshirts.

What do you think?

Blue Line Station wants to know what you think. Should the Rangers start Henrik Lundqvist in Game One of the playoffs?