Jonathan Quick‘s journey with the New York Rangers began in the offseason when he signed a one-year, $825,000 deal. The veteran goalie is from Milford, Connecticut, a small city in the New York City metropolitan area (only 75 miles away from Madison Square Garden). In his new role with the Rangers, Quick has become Igor Shesterkin’s backup for the 2023-24 season.
Quick has had an impressive 16-year career, including three Stanley Cup victories. In 756 games, he has a record of 377-277-84, with a goals-against-average (GAA) of 2.46, and a remarkable NHL save percentage (SV%) of .911. However, most hockey pundits had to believe his career as a goalie was pretty much over when he left the Los Angeles Kings, where he had played for a good part of the past two decades.
Who Would Have Guessed That Quick Had Much Left in His Goalie Tank?
There’s no doubt that signing with the Rangers marked a new chapter in Quick’s career. The question was whether Quick had enough of his old mojo left to help his new Rangers team.
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Last season, Quick put up a 16-15-6 record, with a .882 SV% in 41 games split between the Kings and the Vegas Golden Knights. Could Quick bring his wealth of experience and expertise to the Rangers’ goaltending lineup? Few thought that would be possible. For those who did, Quick has proved them wrong.
Quick’s play with the Rangers during the 2023-24 season has been nothing short of remarkable. Below, I’ll chronicle his three games and his impressive performances thus far.
Game One: Quick Gets Rangers Debut in Relief (October 20, 2023)
Quick made his Rangers debut during a game against the Nashville Predators. Coming in as the relief goalie for Shesterkin, he faced nine shots and stopped all of them. Unfortunately, the Rangers lost the game 4-1, but Quick’s performance was perfect. It was the beginning of his Rangers journey, and the veteran goalie didn’t let anyone down.
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Game Two: Quick Gets His First Rangers Start (October 21, 2023)
Quick’s first start of the season came against the Seattle Kraken. He had an excellent performance, stopping 18 of 19 shots and leading the Rangers to a 4-1 victory. The only goal he allowed was a powerful shot by Justin Schultz in the first period.
In two games, Quick had a strong start to his regular season. He was showing that he was more than capable of providing valuable backup goaltending for the Rangers.
Game Three: Quick Shuts Out the Oilers (October 27, 2023)
Quick’s third appearance and second start came against the Edmonton Oilers. Once again, he had a standout performance by recording a 29-save shutout as the Rangers won by a score of 3-0. Quick’s strong game was the 59th shutout of his career. With this start, he solidified his role as a dependable backup for the Rangers.
The Bottom Line
Thus far, in Quick’s incredible start for the Rangers, he’s only given up a single goal on 57 shots. Three appearances, with three stellar games.
Now the question is, “how long can this strong run last?” As it stands right now, Quick’s stellar GAA is 0.41, and his SV% is a remarkable .982. No goalie in the NHL comes close to that mark.
Not only has Quick become an integral part of the team; but, in practical terms, he’s giving Shesterkin much-needed rest and support. If Quick continues to provide this kind of quality play, the Rangers might not need to rely as heavily on Shesterkin throughout the regular season as they expected.
Right now, both Rangers fans and Quick fans from all over the NHL anticipate his next game. How far can this goalie tandem carry this strong Rangers team? That’s a question that will be answered as the season continues.