Hartnett: Those Predicting Lundqvist's Demise Will Be Disappointed
By Sean Hartnett
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Lately, the hockey world has been down on Rangers franchise goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
The Hockey News excluded the former Vezina Trophy winner from their annual Top 50 players list, while the NHL Network ranked the three-time All-Star sixth among goalies. Sports Illustrated's Allan Muir shockingly listed the Swedish stopper 10th among netminders.
It seems a bit premature to suddenly knock Lundqvist off his perch as one of the league's supreme goaltenders. The 34-year-old has been a model on consistency, posting a save percentage of .920 or better in each of the past seven seasons.
Lundqvist's value to the Rangers couldn't have been clearer during the 2015-16 season. The Blueshirts spent the majority of the season chasing in their own end and finished 26th overall with a five-on-five Corsi For percentage of 47.4.
Yet "King Henrik" was there to bail out his teammates time and time again. Statistically, no goaltender faced a closer proximity of shots and no netminder was forced into a greater workload than Lundqvist. He faced the most shots against (1,944) and made the most saves (1,788). Remarkably, he recorded the league's fourth-best even-strength save percentage at .937.
All of these statistics prove that Lundqvist hasn't lost a step, though some of his critics are pointing to last spring's playoff performance as reason to believe a decline is around the corner. Lundqvist surrendered 15 goals in five playoff games as the Rangers were eliminated in swift fashion by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
While Lundqvist wasn't performing at the top of his game, anyone who followed the series closely saw that the Rangers could not match the Penguins' transition speed. Additionally, the puck management and coverage issues that plagued the Blueshirts all season fell to a new low. The Rangers only killed 13 of 21 Pittsburgh power plays -- a 61.9 percentage. Yikes!
Those same critics tend to forget that only a year earlier, Lundqvist's remarkable play between the pipes helped the Rangers overcome a 3-1 second-round series deficit against the Washington Capitals. Notably, Lundqvist recorded a 42-save performance in Game 6 of that series. He finished the 2015 playoffs with a .928 save percentage.
It's hard to understand why a small sample of five subpar playoff games is being weighed so heavily against Lundqvist. He maintains a .921 career playoff save percentage and until last April recorded save percentages of .931, .934, .927, and .928 in the previous four postseasons.
Lundqvist will turn 35 on March 2. It's understandable why some are pondering when his downfall will come, but the formula is pretty simple. Elite goaltenders who remain healthy tend to stave off the aging curve.
Just look at Roberto Luongo, who turned 37 in April. The Florida Panthers' ace finished last season with a .922 save percentage. Tim Thomas recorded a .938 save percentage at age 36. Thomas, Ed Belfour and Patrick Roy each recorded a save percentage of .920 or higher at age 37. Heck, Belfour was still a .918 goalie at age 38, suiting up for 59 games for the 2003-04 Toronto Maple Leafs. Dominik Hasek remarkably posted a .925 save percentage at age 40 over 43 games for the 2005-06 Ottawa Senators.
Expect Lundqvist to continue defy Father Time for years to come. This September's World Cup of Hockey will be a showcase for him to erase any concerns over whether he can remain among the world's elite netminders.
Lundqvist has been the No. 1 reason why the Rangers have continued to secure high divisional finishes dating to the 2010-11 season. Time and time again, he carries this team on his back.
Follow Sean on Twitter at @HartnettHockey
