New York Rangers’ goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is still setting impressive records even with his age increasing.
By Jay Travers
The New York Rangers had a great shootout win yesterday over the Philadelphia Flyers. And although the Rangers battled back and saw J.T. Miller as well as Chris Kreider score goals, it was Henrik Lundqvist who kept the entire team in the game.
Saves were made left and right in the dying minutes of the tied game in the third period, but The King came up big. Lundqvist made 34 saves on 36 shots and led the Blueshirts through the five minute overtime.
It was in the shootout where fans could see Lundqvist’s game was just as good as ever. Henrik Lundqvist is an elite goalie in the NHL, and one of the best in the world. It seems that the Rangers have a chance to go all the way every season because Lundqvist comes into camp looking so fresh and shows it during the year.
It generally takes the Rangers a few months to get into the swing of things, and for Lundqvist to get back into form, but this year was a little different.
Today’s game marked another impressive record Lundqvist had set, among the others.
#Rangers Henrik Lundqvist is the first goalie in NHL history with at least 20 wins in each of his first 11 NHL seasons, per @PR_NHL.
— Seth Rothman (@SethDRothman) January 16, 2016
The start of the season was an interesting one, as mentioned above. The King sat at the very top of the NHL in almost every goaltending category, but that came to be abrupt end. And around the same time the Blueshirts, as a team, started their extra-long skid through December.
Fans can only hope that the past few wins have turned a new page in the book and the Rangers are back on track.
Lundqvist’s numbers are very consistent, getting at least 30 wins in every full 82-game season in the NHL. As impressive as that is, Lundqvist’s Save Percentage (SV%) has never dropped below 9.00%.
There should be something to note though. The clock is ticking for Lundqvist. He is not getting any younger, and at 33 years old his numbers are great, but parts of his play is changing.
He seems to be noticeably slower than he has in the past. At the beginning of the year Lundqvist’s legs were flying, but somewhere along the line the steam was lost.
After today’s win, he seems to have regained the steam over the past few games. And this is a blessing to the Rangers, they need Lundqvist more than he needs them. The impressive milestone set today is vindication that Lundqvist is still as elite as he was in 2012, his Vezina Trophy year.
It is only the middle of January, but it looks like the Rangers are getting their stride back. The NHL All Star Game is at the end of the month, and the trade deadline is at the end of February. The season is just flying by.
By the way, The King gets the day off tomorrow in Washington, as Antti Raanta will get the start.
