The New York Rangers recently made a trade for Eric Staal at the NHL trade deadline, and fans have noticed that once again, the Rangers are all in to win the Stanley Cup. With Staal now in the lineup, playing a role as a third line center, and Rick Nash presumably returning soon, the Rangers are making themselves deeper come playoff time. There’s one problem, and fans have asked the same question all season. Are the Rangers relying on Lundqvist too much?
Rangers Relying On Lundqvist Too Much?
Lundqvist is, and probably will be, one of the best goaltenders in the league for the next few years, but he is starting to show weaknesses and teams are figuring him out. Lundqvist was recently injured in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins when Ryan McDonagh ran into him while defending an odd man rush. Lundqvist was furious that the play wasn’t stopped so he flipped over the net to force his own stoppage. He is expected to return this weekend after missing three games with neck spasms.
King Henrik has carried the Rangers on his shoulders through the playoffs for the last few years. In 2015, they made the Eastern Conference Finals, falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning in game seven, a year after the Stanley Cup Finals loss to the L.A. Kings. 2014 was not the best year for the Swede, as he became the first goalie to start, and lose, a Stanley Cup Final and an Olympic Gold Medal Final in the same year
Contrary to popular belief, Lundqvist is easily still in his prime. Look at the stats, Lundqvist is fifth in the NHL in wins with 31. He has a .923 save percentage and 2.31 goals against average. To put it into perspective, he has the same save percentage as the Washington Capitals’ Braden Holtby.
The Rangers currently sit seventh in the league for goals for and 15th in goals against. Along with that, they have one of the worst penalty kills in the league. The Broadway Blueshirts sit at 27th in the league, killing off 77.4% of their penalties.
Obviously stats don’t say it all, everybody knows that. Stats don’t always speak for how a team plays night in and night out. The Rangers are still one of the best teams in the NHL. They sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division behind Washington. and fifth in the league. To be in the top five in the league with teams like Washington, St. Louis and Chicago is not bad company at all, especially a year after winning the President’s Trophy.
The biggest problem for the New York Rangers is that their defense is shaky and sometimes unreliable in front of Hank. With players like Ryan McDonagh, Dan Boyle, Keith Yandle and Marc Staal, you would think they should be somewhat dominant. Some games they can completely shut a team down, other nights, they may be embarrassed.
The Rangers have one or two years before their Stanley Cup window closes and Lundqvist’s reign in New York starts to run out. With the Staal trade, the Rangers are all in for another run to the Stanley Cup Finals. In order to make that run, the Rangers relying on Lundqvist will need to be a thing of the best. As long as the power-play continues to produce and penalty kill improves, the Rangers have a shot at the Stanley Cup.
Main Photo.
