Georgiev struggles signals a return to the King
With all the talk of a “changing of the guard” in goal, everyone’s new favorite starter has given up 12 goals in his last 3 games. Alexander Georgiev has struggled, especially last night in a 6-3 loss to Toronto at the Garden. The young netmimder has now lost back to back starts and it may be time for David Quinn to start getting his veteran more starts.
Hank’s Dilemma
Meanwhile, Henrik Lundqvist isn’t exactly playing all world having gone winless in his last 4 starts (0-2-2). He’s given up 12 goals in those contests, but hasn’t gotten enough offensive support as the Rangers only scored 7. When you watch Henrik play, his biggest issues are not physical. In other words, it doesn’t appear to me that he’s lost a step. The goals he’s given up seem more about mental lapses than anything else.
This has been a huge adjustment for a goalie who is used to playing a ton of games every season. In his 15 year career he has started at least 63 games eight times. Lundqvist who started only 52 games last season has admitted that he is still struggling with the new paradigm. At this current pace, Lundqvist is on course to start just 42 games, the lowest in his career.
Getting Hank into a groove
Currently David Quinn has Henrik starting about 52% of the games played so far. As the calendar turns to 2020 and the Rangers needing to get on a hot streak to get into a playoff spot, it’s time to increase that number to about 75% of the remaining 48 games.
If Quinn were to increase his workload that much, that would be around 33 more starts. That may sound like a lot but once you tally it all up it’s exactly the same number of starts as last year. Meaning if the Rangers can get into the playoffs it would be the freshest Hank has been for them in ages. And if the workload is too much, well you still have Georgiev who has excelled in the backup role.
Henrik is scheduled to get the start tomorrow against Anaheim. If he wins, there is no reason not to let him go against the Flyers on Monday who hold the last wildcard by 7 points. The return of the King is long overdue.
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