Why the New York Rangers Can't Lead Henrik Lundqvist to a Stanley Cup

Henrik Lundqvist is one of those goaltenders who can stop the puck when he wants, but his unorthodox butterfly style is rare to see when he is between the pipes for the New York Rangers. Lundqvist is yet to make it past the second round of the playoffs in his seventh year in the NHL, and it does not seem he will help the Rangers in the Stanley Cup anytime soon.

Lundqvist is the first NHL goalie to win 30-plus games in his first six seasons. He has over 200 career wins, but that has not helped the Rangers even come close to a Stanley Cup.

Lundqvist's record in the playoffs is a dreadful 15-20, and he is for some reason not even above .500 in the postseason. His goals against average (GAA) is 2.60 in the playoffs compared to 2.32 in the regular season.

Lunqvists's butterfly technique reminds me of Tim Thomas, who won his first Stanley Cup last season with the Boston Bruins, but the Rangers won't be able to get it done anytime soon if they can not score enough goals to support Lundqvist's poor effort in the playoffs.

The last couple seasons have been bad for the Rangers. In the 2008-09 season, they lost in seven games and Lundqvist allowed a staggering 3.00 goals per game. In 2009-10, the Rangers did not qualify for the playoffs, even though Lundqvist had a 35-27 record. In 2010-2011, the Rangers lost in five games and Lundqvist's GAA dropped to 2.25.

The Rangers offense is the reason why Lundqvist is not getting playoff wins. They have not performed consistently in the playoffs and hopefully 2011 will be a different story.