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New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist, backup goalie

By Steve Paulus

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 27: Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers stretches during the warm-up prior to the game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on February 27, 2020 in Montreal, Canada. The New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 27: Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers stretches during the warm-up prior to the game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on February 27, 2020 in Montreal, Canada. The New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev #40 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

How about Georgiev?

Alexandar Georgiev has made six relief appearances in his career over three years, replacing Lundqvist every time.  This season he came in twice, against Boston and Dallas and allowed three goals on 17 shots in 36:41 minutes of playing time.

In the two seasons prior he appeared in four games, allowing three goals on 35 shots for a save percentage of .915.   His career statistics are six games with 46 saves on 52 shots for a save percentage of .885.    That’s below his career save percentage of .913.

Compared to Lundqvist

Here are Henrik Lundqvist’s numbers as a reliever.   This season he played 81:07minutes in relief, allowed four goals on 31 shots for a .871 SV%., but all four of those goals came in the Tampa blowout.  Take out the Tampa game and Lundvist played 47:49 in relief and didn’t allow a goal on 12 shots in three games.

In the 16 career appearances he has stopped 188 of 215 shots for a .875 save percentage (SV%).  However, if you take out the two bad games against Tampa and Montreal, his save percentage improves to .897.   That’s still off from his career .918 SV%.

The one factor that has to be considered is Lundqvist’s career success against the Hurricanes.  The Swede has absolutely dominated the Canes over 46 starts, winning 33 times and allowing an average of two goals per game.

On the other hand, Georgiev has mediocre numbers against the Hurricanes.  He has only played against them twice, but he has allowed ten goals in those two games with a save percentage of .880.  He had the worst outing of his career against Carolina in October2018 when he allowed seven goals in an 8-5 loss.   In his first start against them in March 2018, he allowed three goals in a 6-3 win.

The other factor is that Lundqvist’s preparation will be different if he knows he can only appear in relief.  He’s a savvy veteran and you can be sure that he will make sure that he is ready if he is called upon.

Ranger fans will be waiting to see who leads the team on the ice on Wednesday night against the Islanders.  Every indication is that it will be their Russian rookie, but the very fact that they have a dominant, future Hall of Fame goaltender, ready to come in if needed, has to be a reassuring fact for all.

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Writers note:  There was an error in Lundvist’s stats from the game in Tampa resulting in an error in calculating his career SV% in an earlier version of this story. It has been corrected. 

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