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The Rangers are in a full-blown goalie crisis


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BAHAHAHAHAHA

 

This is a scenario that for the last 11 years has befallen other teams around the NHL, the ones that couldn’t depend on their goaltender and thus broke down repeatedly in their own end, if not all over the ice, in trying to cope with the uncertainty of never knowing when the puck would go in and from where.

But not the Rangers, not since Henrik Lundqvist effectively claimed the No. 1 job in nets from Kevin Weekes midway through the Swede’s rookie 2005-06 season. Issues up front? The Rangers have had those, all right. Issues on the back end? Oh, boy, have the Rangers had their share of those.

But in nets? Never. If there was one constant on Broadway, it was Lundqvist’s consistent excellence through which he infused his team with confidence night after night after night and allowed the Rangers to overcome deficiencies anywhere and sometimes everywhere else.

Until now.

http://nypost.com/2017/01/18/for-the-first-time-in-11-years-rangers-face-a-goalie-crisis/

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He's had these valleys during mid-season in the past.  Maybe not this bad (to be honest, I haven't been paying that much attention) but the smart money says he'll rebound.  The Rangers are also at the top of the league in goal differential, and will soon have Buchnevich and Zbinijad coming back.  So they'll be fine.

The wheels will fall off eventually for Lundqvist, as they do for everyone.  Just don't think it'll really happen in the next couple of seasons.

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He's had these valleys during mid-season in the past.  Maybe not this bad (to be honest, I haven't been paying that much attention) but the smart money says he'll rebound.  The Rangers are also at the top of the league in goal differential, and will soon have Buchnevich and Zbinijad coming back.  So they'll be fine.
The wheels will fall off eventually for Lundqvist, as they do for everyone.  Just don't think it'll really happen in the next couple of seasons.

That's the whole point of the article- his slumps haven't been this bad before. And Buchevnich and Zibenajed are both already back.


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He has gone through some mid-season slumps in the past and recovered for the stretch runs, as Daniel noted, but his quick-glance numbers are really bad:  2.89 GAA, .902 save% 

He's also put up an .843 save% in his last eight games.

He's soon-to-be 35 and has 833 games under his belt (717 regular season & 116 playoff)...he's currently 23rd all-time in regular season games played and could possibly move up into the mid-teens by next season.  This could be the beginning of the inevitable for him. 

 

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I think he'll rebound to some extent but...the Rangers are not going anywhere if he's a .910 playoff goalie...and that would constitute a rebound. And giving up 20 goals in his past 3 1/2 games or so (yanked the last two) is a full blown crises. His goal-tending of late hasn't just been bad it's been an all out horror show. And it's not just this stretch. Gave up 4 at home vs Buffalo. Minnesota lit him up too a few weeks ago.

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41 minutes ago, '7' said:

I think he'll rebound to some extent but...the Rangers are not going anywhere if he's a .910 playoff goalie...and that would constitute a rebound. And giving up 20 goals in his past 3 1/2 games or so (yanked the last two) is a full blown crises. His goal-tending of late hasn't just been bad it's been an all out horror show. And it's not just this stretch. Gave up 4 at home vs Buffalo. Minnesota lit him up too a few weeks ago.

Any goalie can turn things around enough to make a run in the playoffs.  Marty had a fairly pedestrian .917 playoff save percentage in 2012.  And the Rangers seem to have a lot more scoring depth than that Devils' team did.  (Really stinks that they were saved from the consequences of bad trades by being able to sign Vesey and Hayes, but that's the way it goes sometimes). 

He may, or may not lay a giant egg in the playoffs this year.  But so long as he's not playing that bad, the Rangers should be able to win a round or two, and could go farther if the Penguins or Caps hit a funk at the wrong time. 

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It's hard for me to count Lundqvist out just yet, but boy would it be nice if this was the beginning of the end.  That contract is lethal if he's anything less than a star.

The Rangers came out flying this season and really have not been that good from November 15th or so on.   

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Just now, Martyisth3b3st said:

Unless you can give me another good example, like with anything we'll ever say about Brodeur he appears to be the exception rather than the rule. I cannot remember an aging goalie have a terrible regular season and a dominant playoffs. 

That playoffs was the definition of veteran savy getting him by. I never really thought a goalie could use his smarts and tricks like that for a run. So many poke checks and double stacks and just doing stuff to throw off the other team.

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52 minutes ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

I am sure the Rangers will find a team stupid enough to take his contract if he melts down. They always do. 

Always seems to be the case, doesn't it?

I wonder which team will give up an up-and-coming prospect and 1st round pick for Hank in a couple years.

Edit: Oh man, if you haven't watched the highlights from last night's game do yourself a favor and check them out.  Hank looks absolutely lost on some of these goals, it's just fantastic.

Link: Hank Lays 7 Eggs

Edited by Devilsfan118
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23 minutes ago, Devilsfan118 said:

Always seems to be the case, doesn't it?

I wonder which team will give up an up-and-coming prospect and 1st round pick for Hank in a couple years.

Edit: Oh man, if you haven't watched the highlights from last night's game do yourself a favor and check them out.  Hank looks absolutely lost on some of these goals, it's just fantastic.

Link: Hank Lays 7 Eggs

I've been lucky enough to go to games where Lundqvist gave up 6 and 8 goals not 7 thou.

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52 minutes ago, Martyisth3b3st said:

Unless you can give me another good example, like with anything we'll ever say about Brodeur he appears to be the exception rather than the rule. I cannot remember an aging goalie have a terrible regular season and a dominant playoffs. 

If you're saying that Marty had a full-on terrible regular season and then played well in the playoffs in 2011-12, then that's inaccurate.  He had a shaky first-half plus (33 games total), but was a .921 save% goalie from 2/5 on, including the postseason (.924 regular season, .917 playoffs, and was actually at .922 for the playoff heading into that last game).  It's a 50-game sample I've brought up a few times, and it sadly turned out to be the last real extended stretch of sustained good play that Marty ever had...as we know, the hints of decline in 2010-11 and 2011-12 (poor starts followed by strong finishes...he put up a .923 save% from 1/8 on in 2010-11, over his final 29 appearances) were on full display after the 2012 playoffs, with rare exceptions. 

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2 hours ago, Martyisth3b3st said:

Unless you can give me another good example, like with anything we'll ever say about Brodeur he appears to be the exception rather than the rule. I cannot remember an aging goalie have a terrible regular season and a dominant playoffs. 

While he may need to be dominant for the Rangers to win the Cup, they can still do a decent amount of damage in the playoffs so long as he isn't horrible.  Brodeur in 2012 did not have anything close to a dominant playoff run, and got pulled in at least one game.  He also blew a couple of 3 goal leads if memory serves me correctly.  Overall, he was good, not great (although there's one analysis which made a decent enough case that his puck handling skills were an important factor in winning the Philly series).  Yet the Devils made it to game 6 of the SCF, and very well could have won the thing -- despite being clearly outmatched by LA -- if they got a few lucky bounces in games 1 and 2. 

The Rangers are pretty stacked when it comes to forward depth.  I can't tell you what their defense is like, i.e. is Girardi still terrible, is Skeij overrated, etc.  But when you have a good goal differential despite some really bad games from your goaltending, it means that you can put the puck in the net well enough, which a lot of teams, including the Devils, can't really do.

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43 minutes ago, Daniel said:

While he may need to be dominant for the Rangers to win the Cup, they can still do a decent amount of damage in the playoffs so long as he isn't horrible.  Brodeur in 2012 did not have anything close to a dominant playoff run, and got pulled in at least one game.  He also blew a couple of 3 goal leads if memory serves me correctly.  Overall, he was good, not great (although there's one analysis which made a decent enough case that his puck handling skills were an important factor in winning the Philly series).  Yet the Devils made it to game 6 of the SCF, and very well could have won the thing -- despite being clearly outmatched by LA -- if they got a few lucky bounces in games 1 and 2. 

The Rangers are pretty stacked when it comes to forward depth.  I can't tell you what their defense is like, i.e. is Girardi still terrible, is Skeij overrated, etc.  But when you have a good goal differential despite some really bad games from your goaltending, it means that you can put the puck in the net well enough, which a lot of teams, including the Devils, can't really do.

Jonathan Quick is a great example of how both ends of the spectrum can get it done:

2011-12  1.41 GAA, .946 save%

2013-14  2.58 GAA, .911 save%...he was incredibly inconsistent during this run (part of the reason his team was just 12-9 through three series), but to his credit, he stepped it up when he needed to...shut down San Jose after his team was down 3-0 (he allowed 16 goals in those first three games, only five for the remainder of that series), went 5-2 in OT, put up a .932 save% in the SCF.  He allowed only 12 goals in 7 elimination games (obviously his team won them all). 

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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1 hour ago, mfitz804 said:

Our own goalie has had some abysmal streaks this season as well. Could just be one of those and Lunqvist's age could not be a factor at all. 

Either way, it's fun to make fun of the Rangers. 

I came here to post the same thing.  I think Carey Price has also been on an ugly streak as of late.   These things occasionally happen.   

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