Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers continued to fight hard in another elimination contest in Game 5, yet this time they fell to the Los Angeles Kings in a double-overtime thriller. As brilliant as Lundqvist was, he couldn’t stop that Alec Martinez rebound goal that clinched the Kings’ championship, and he didn’t deny how much this loss hurts.
Lundqvist with head in his hands for several minutes before standing and addressing the media after making 48 saves in the elimination loss
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) June 14, 2014
Lundqvist: "I knew going into this series it was going to end in tears: Tears of joy or tears of heartbreak. It’s extremely tough." #NYR
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) June 14, 2014
No doubt about it, Lundqvist & Co. went down fighting. The 32-year-old netminder made 48 saves in Game 5 and finished a .923 save percentage in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final series overall.
While Lundqvist often stood on his head, other Rangers struggled. Brad Richards drew serious criticism for his play during stretches of this series in particular, yet he seemed more focused on the team loss than any individual struggles.
Richards: "As far as your career-wise, it's the toughest moment. I haven't been this far and lost (before)." #NYR
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) June 14, 2014
Richards: "It's definitely worth every second of these last two months, but right now you're just kind of speechless." #NYR
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) June 14, 2014
As great as Lundqvist was at times, Jonathan Quick enjoyed some dominant moments and now possesses two Stanley Cup rings. It sounds like a few Rangers felt like they let their goalie down.
"It was a battle of the two best goalies in the world and we just couldn't get that goal for ours"-#NYR Derick Brassard
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) June 14, 2014
Ultimately, most seemed to agree that it all hurts so badly because the Rangers were so close. Their head coach even seems to find silver linings in these bittersweet feelings.
Dan Girardi: "It was so close. An inch here, an inch there. The whole series." http://t.co/vc5e1psY57
— Rich Chere (@Ledger_NJDevils) June 14, 2014
"We tried our best, everybody laid it out there. I'm very proud of our group, proud of their effort"-AV postgame tonight
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) June 14, 2014
Proud or not, the Kings ultimately proved to be too much to handle. Time will tell if the Rangers will get this far again with Lundqvist as their franchise goalie.
