Rangers: 2 truths and 1 lie after Jonathan Quick’s eventful night vs. Red Wings
Okay, let’s have a little fun here after Jonathan Quick’s epic throwback performance for the New York Rangers, albeit in a disappointing 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
Quick stopped 40 of 42 shots and pretty much singlehandedly kept the Rangers in this one, before Mason Raymond snapped a 1-1 tie with the go-ahead goal at 16:13 of the third period. The Rangers were outshot badly in the third period, 14-3, and by a significant margin overall (42-19). Yet the 39-year-old goalie made like it was 2012 or 2014, when he was leading the Los Angeles Kings to a pair of Stanley Cup championships.
“Today wasn’t good enough. They outplayed us. If it wasn’t for ‘Quickie’ that could’ve been blown wide open,” Rangers captain J.T. Miller said postgame.
Speaking of postgame, Quick — who was pulled in the final couple minutes for a sixth attacker in a failed bid to tie the game — started a near riot when the game ended. Quick charged off the bench and rushed after Red Wings forward Mason Appleton, who shot the puck into the empty net just after the horn sounded at MSG.
Quick landed a few shots to the face of Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin with his blocker, and all 40 players from each team convened on the ice. It wasn’t exactly a 1970’s style hockey brawl, but there was enough bad blood that you should circle the April 4 rematch at the Garden on your calendar.
Nonetheless, let’s get to the two truths and a lie.
Lie: Jonathan Quick was not frustrated, only furious with Mason Appleton at end of Rangers loss
Let’s cut right to the chase and start off with the lie. Though there’s no doubt that the old-school goaltender was pissed off Appleton broke an unwritten hockey rule, there are two reasons to believe Quick wasn’t 100 percent forthcoming about everything that set him off.
First, Quick battled his rear end off all night, and likely played his best game in three seasons with the Rangers. He argued with the officials, got physical with Red Wings players, and nearly dragged the Rangers kicking and screaming to victory — or at least to overtime, to guarantee one point in the standings. So, you’re darn right the combative and competitive veteran must’ve been plenty frustrated and, perhaps, none too thrilled with how his teammates played in front of him.
Second, it wasn’t as though Appleton fired the puck into the empty net five seconds after the horn sounded. With Artemi Panarin checking him, Appleton started the shooting motion as the clock hit zero and followed through on his shot. Technically, yes, the shot came after the buzzer. But it surely didn’t have the vibe of an obnoxious rub-it-in-your-face moment, worthy of a brawl.
“You all saw it, the horn goes, a couple seconds, and he shoots it into the net. I don’t know why they were surprised. That’s usually the response when something like that happens,” Quick explained postgame.
When asked how much of his frustration in the heat of the moment stemmed from the game and result, Quick calmly dismissed that notion completely.
“It’s a complete separate issue from the 60 minutes that took place, and then the couple seconds and then he shoots it, just that.”
Truth: Jonathan Quick is among best acquisitions made by Rangers GM Chris Drury
It’s easy to say now, but Quick is most definitely one of the best player acquisitions made by Rangers general manager Chris Drury, since he replaced Jeff Gorton as New York’s top front office executive in 2021. But when the Rangers signed Quick in the summer of 2023, there was some backlash, based mainly on the thinking that the veteran looked finished, coming off a subpar season when the Kings traded him to the Vegas Golden Knights, and he ended up being the third-string goalie in their championship run.
But Drury read this one perfectly. He believed that Quick still had good hockey left in him, enough to be a solid veteran No. 2 behind Igor Shesterkin, and thrive coming back “home” to the East Coast, where he grew up a big Rangers fan in Connecticut.
Quick’s been a major asset ever since, not only for his consistently strong play between the pipes, but as a respected leader on and off the ice. Coaches and teammates alike speak of the future Hall of Famer in reverential tones for good reason.
And since Day 1, Quick’s been a bargain. He made $825,000 his first season, re-upped for a slight raise the following campaign, and currently sits at $1.55 million on another one-year deal.
Truth: Jonathan Quick still has plenty of great hockey left in him
If Sunday didn’t provide enough evidence that Quick remains a force for the Rangers in his current role, look at his body of work through the first quarter of this season. In five starts, Quick is 3-2-0 with a 1.41 goals-against average, .951 save percentage, and one shutout. Those two losses? He could’ve — should’ve — won each of those games. His first start of the season was a 1-0 shutout loss to the Washington Capitals, and there’s the aforementioned defeat at the hands of the Red Wings.
Quick allowed three goals once, and one or fewer three times. He simply looks more sharp than last season (11-7-2, 3.17, .892, two shutouts), when he was good but not anywhere near this level. True, he and Shesterkin each benefit from a more sound defensive structure and overall team commitment in front of them this season compared to 2024-25. But Quick deserves props for how consistently terrific he’s been, too.
He turns 40 in January, but there’s no reason to believe this must be Quick’s final season in the NHL. There’s plenty of proof to suggest he can still play this young man’s game.
