So how do you go about this? How do you measure eight seasons of sustained excellence against 10 games of eye-opening superiority?
How do you measure the past against the present?
How does Alain Vigneault handle the situation in the Rangers goal without creating the type of controversy the coach left behind in Vancouver?
Henrik Lundqvist has the track record, not to mention the contract (but we just did, because it’s an inescapable part of the equation), and we all recognize that.
We all understand and appreciate what he has meant to the Blueshirts from the moment he arrived from Sweden in September 2005. Team MVP seven years running, a Vezina finalist five times and winner once as voted by NHL general managers.
But Lundqvist has struggled nearly all season in winning only 10 of his 27 starts with a sub-standard 2.77 goals-against average and .905 save percentage that ranks near the bottom of the league.
And as he has faltered, the Rangers have faltered in front of him, playing careless and often nervous hockey.
It’s as if both he and his teammates have been waiting for something bad to happen. It usually has. Ten wins in 27 starts.
Seventeen losses, not including his aura.
Into the breach, backup Cam Talbot, who has won eight of his 10 starts following Monday’s 2-1 shootout victory over the Maple Leafs at the Garden, 24 hours after the 26-year-old NHL freshman’s 4-1 victory over Minnesota.
The Rangers have played their best hockey in front of Talbot, who exudes confidence while playing big in net. If there’s a distinct style, it’s an economical one, and no, that is not a reference to the contract under which he will earn $562,500 per through next season.
The Blueshirts were 1-4-2 through the first seven games of the homestand with Lundqvist in net. They concluded it with consecutive victories behind Talbot, who has surrendered two goals or fewer in nine of his first 10 NHL starts and is unflappable.
Why, he barely batted an eye after an inscrutable officiating decision by referee Jean Hebert handed the Leafs the tying goal with 1:24 to go in the third, though the puck had obviously been trapped under Talbot’s left pad for more than a second without the whistle blowing.
Instead, he just went out and won the first NHL shootout in which he played.
Lundqvist appears to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders as he attempts to find his form. It’s either more or less troubling The King ran off a 10-game stretch beginning in late October in which he seemed to regain his powers before suffering a relapse over the last three weeks.
The call to go with Talbot against the Leafs was a slam-dunk for Vigneault. The future, not so much. The coach doesn’t appear to be at fault for Lundqvist’s frailty, but he somehow is on the cusp of the same kind of goaltending issue he had in Vancouver with Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider.
Vigneault tap-danced around all manner of questions regarding his goaltending plans both prior to and after Monday’s match. If he isn’t careful, it will become Groundhog Day for him, with that issue dominating the discussion from this point forward.
What Roberto Luongo was in Vancouver, Lundqvist is more than that here. He is the name above the title on the marquee, the focus of the Garden marketing machine; the face of the franchise.
The Rangers’ next game is on Friday in Washington, where Lundqvist has recorded two consecutive shutouts, including last year’s Game 7 first-round elimination triumph over the Caps.
Yes, there have been two straight victories for Talbot that helped restore the Rangers’ equilibrium, but the next start must belong to Lundqvist, who will have a had a mental-health week, including the three day Christmas break to get away from the grind.
But if he encounters trouble on Friday, or in the following week that features road matches against the Lightning, Panthers, Penguins and Maple Leafs, then the Rangers would be in trouble. Then, the Rangers and Vigneault would be in a game-by-game mode.
Then, the Rangers would have a full-blown goaltending controversy. You bet they would. And nobody but nobody wants that, least of all Vigneault.