Lundqvist laughed and was diplomatic when pressed on the concept of "luck" on Wednesday afternoon after the team's practice. He admitted that some good fortune is necessary for every team at this point of the season, but if he caught wind of Subban's comments, he did not seem to take them personally.
"You definitely need luck. It's a fast game. And there's so many things you can't control as a goalie -- how the game is played, the situations that occur in front of you -- so you have to believe in yourself and you have to work hard and a lot of times you have to earn those bounces," Lundqvist said. "There's definitely some luck, no question."
His teammates did not seem to be perturbed by what Subban said, either, even if they disagreed with the assessment. Backup netminder Cam Talbot, who probably knows better than anyone else in the Rangers' room just how much "luck" goes into posting pristine goaltending stats, said that he finds himself sometimes thinking the opposite.
"I don't know what context [Subban] might have said that in, but [Lundqvist] has been playing that way and that game for the entire playoffs now. If anything he's unlucky, look at some of the bounces he's gotten in the last few games," Talbot said. "The only ones that have gone in off shin pads and stuff like that. I don't think he's a lucky goalie. I think he makes saves because he's in good position and because he's so quick. I don't even know how to respond to that."
