Quinn undecided on Rangers' starting goalie: 'You can make a case for all 3'

With three capable goalies at his disposal, New York Rangers head coach David Quinn isn't sure who he'll start in net if the NHL proceeds with its 24-team postseason.

Igor Shesterkin, Alexandar Georgiev, and Henrik Lundqvist split goaltending duties in New York this season, leaving Quinn with a tough choice.

"You can make a case for all three guys," Quinn said, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "There's a lot of reasons to take Shesty, there's a lot of reasons to start Hank, and there's reasons to start Georgie. This is such an uncertain time that that will play out over the course of the two-and-a-half weeks that we're going to have before we drop the puck."

Phase 3 of the NHL's return-to-play plan is expected to begin on July 10 and includes full training camps for teams. The Rangers are set to take on the Carolina Hurricanes in a best-of-five play-in round once the league resumes its season.

Lundqvist had a subpar campaign overall but was tremendous against the Hurricanes. He logged a 3-0-0 record with a 2.33 goals-against average and .947 save percentage versus Carolina in 2019-20. By contrast, he posted a 3.16 goals-against average and .905 save percentage on the season while playing in a career-low 30 games.

Shesterkin, meanwhile, seemed well on his way to taking over as the Rangers' starter after making his NHL debut in January. The 24-year-old went 10-2-0 with a .932 save percentage and 2.52 goals-against average before the league halted play.

Georgiev, also 24, finished the season with a 17-14-2 record alongside a 3.04 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.

"Hank's history factors in, Shesty's season factors in," Quinn said. "Everything factors in. We're going to consider everything when we make that decision. For every player, the time that we have between when we start practicing and the start of the games is going to be pivotal, but none more so than our goalies."

Though Quinn hasn't anointed a starter, Lundqvist has a decided edge over his fellow netminders when it comes to postseason experience. The 38-year-old is a veteran of 128 playoff games, helping lead the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final on two occasions and the Stanley Cup Final once. Neither Shesterkin nor Georgiev has appeared in a single NHL playoff game.