This was not Pat Shurmur stepping up to the mic to proclaim that Eli Manning had been deposed by Daniel Jones and was now the backup quarterback following a 15-year run as QB1. This was nothing like that.
But when David Quinn casually announced that Alexandar Georgiev would get Friday’s start at the Garden against the Maple Leafs because of, “the opponent, for sure,” it drove home the point that Henrik Lundqvist is no longer the Blueshirts’ de facto No. 1 goaltender after ascending to that role by the second month of his rookie 2005-06 season.
The changing of the guard is upon us.