Henrik Lundqvist has been doing big things since the day he arrived in New York, now he actually has a team in front. |
It's been a long time since the words New York Rangers and Stanley Cup were connected in anyway. Probably since the '96-'97 campaign when Wayne Gretzky and Mike Richter came together for their last hoorah, leading the Rangers all the way to the conference finals where they eventually lost to the Philadelphia Flyers. This year's blue shirts have been playing so well that the ghosts of '94 have awoken and are taking notice. The New York Rangers are going to win the Stanley Cup, and the main reason? Henrik Lundqvist.
No one has ever doubted Henrik Lundqvist's status among the elite goaltenders in the league, however he hasn't had a fair shot at the Vezina because of the Rangers lack of any consistency. To put it simply, the last four playoff appearances by the New York Rangers were completely because of Lundqivst. Back in 2008-09 the Rangers somehow snuck into the playoffs as the eighth seed, earning a matchup against the high-flying Captials. The Rangers grabbed a surprising 2-0 lead behind back-to-back 35 save efforts by Lundqvist including a memorable shutout in Game 2. Lundqvist again came through with a 1 goal, 38 save performance in Game 4 to push the Rangers lead to 3-1. But New York's excessive reliance on Lundqvist caught up to them as they couldn't finish the series losing three straight. Another performance worthy of noting was his Game 5 40-save effort in 2007 against the Sabres in the Conference Semis. King Henrik literally stood on his head, but the Rangers were unable to capitalize on this memorable performance, losing 2-1 in OT. This is just one of many times when the Rangers ran Henrik dry, thanks to shotty defense and zero offensive consistency. Lundqvist has never won the Vezina for one simply reason, his Rangers' squads in the past were terrible. In fact he was so good during all those years that he actually made it seem like the Rangers were actually decent squad from 2005-2009, when it was simply Lundqvist's ability to make game changing saves in the blink of an eye.
The 2011-12 season so far has provided Henrik with serious relief from his days of making highlight reel saves on horrendous turnovers. New York now has solid, consistent blue liners and a balance of scoring that even John Tortorella has to be proud of. 4 Rangers players have 30+ plus points, meaning that the blue shirts are relying on one scorer like they had so often in the past. Their second in goals allowed, 3rd in penalty kill and a solid 11th in goals for. However, instead of sitting back and letting his much improved team carry Lundqvist, Henrik is actually putting together his best season ever with an absurd 1.87 GAA(way below his impressive career average of 2.28) and a mind-blowing .937 save percentage. In laymen terms, he's the best goaltender in the NHL.
Everyone knows that a hot goaltender is the most surefire way to a Stanley Cup, but when that goaltender is Henrik Lundqvist you can, barring an injury, sign, seal and deliver Lord Stanley to New York. With a balanced squad like the 2011-12 Rangers in front of him, Lundqvist should be primed to received the Vezina, win the Conn Smythe and lift Lord Stanley. So, Richter get ready to move over, you're about to have company.
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