Henrik Lundqvist
AP Photo

The King, Henrik Lundqvist, reaches another milestone for the New York Rangers by eclipsing 50,000 career minutes.

Frank Curto

Henrik Lundqvist reached another milestone as the starting goaltender for the New York Rangers.

In Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings at the Garden, Lundqvist eclipsed 50,000 career minutes for the Blueshirts.

Henrik is only the 11th goalie in NHL history to achieve the milestone and joins New Jersey Devils’ Martin Brodeur (74,439 minutes) and Chicago Blackhawks’ Tony Esposito (52,476 minutes) as the only goalies to reach the plateau with the same team.

The King has been the team’s number one goalie for the past 14 seasons and is the franchise leader in wins (449), saves (22,592) and shutouts (63).

The 37-year old won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender in the 2011-12 season. Lundqvist has appeared in 854 NHL games all while wearing a New York Rangers uniform. Hank has won 30 or more games in a season in 11 of his 14 years for the Blueshirts.

In the team’s rebuilding season this year, Henrik has played 49 games with a record of 18-20-10. He’s posted a 2.99 goals against average along with a .909 save percentage. The Rangers have just nine games remaining this season. It’s likely that this season will be the one that produces his least amount of games played.

The King started 55 games in the 2016-17 season, appearing in 57. This year he has started and played in just 49 games, splitting time with rookie goalie Alexandar Georgiev.

Hank has two years remaining on his contract with the Rangers. Brodeur and Esposito are both in the Hockey Hall of Fame and the same accolade is expected for Lundqvist once he retires from the NHL.

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A graduate of St. John's University class of '91. I have been a fan of the New York Rangers since the days of Peter Puck. Founder of Ranger Proud, the Facebook page that covers all news, notes, pre /post-game stats, and player quotes. I can be reached at [email protected]