New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist just wrapped up his fourth career National Hockey League All-Star Weekend (2009, 2011, 2012, 2018) down in Tampa Bay, Florida. The 35-year-old netminder is in the middle of a bounceback season, one that is on track to be one of his best in years with the Rangers. But the weekend of Jan. 27 was far from serious, instead, Lundqvist enjoyed himself and had some fun.
Henrik Lundqvist Soaks up 2018 All-Star Experience
Henrik Lundqvist has had quite the career thus far. The Swedish goaltender is the New York Rangers all-time leader in saves, wins, and shutouts. This season, he earned his 20,000th career save and also became the first NHL goaltender to earn at least 20 wins in thirteen straight seasons. He also moved up to eighth place on the all-time wins list for goaltenders.
RangersTown, our #NYR #NHLAllStar, Henrik Lundqvist! https://t.co/XGONUBYtlo
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 27, 2018
Lundqvist deserves to have been at this year’s All-Star Weekend. Night in and night out he gives his best effort for the Rangers in order for them to win. He started out the 2017-18 campaign rough, but since November has fought back to looking like his former self.
Lundqvist participated in the Skills Competition, partaking in the new challenge for goalies- one that saw how many consecutive shots one could make. Lundqvist stopped five in a row and stopped ten of the twelve total shots he faced. He started for the Metropolitan Division in their game against the Atlantic, one that resulted in a 7-4 loss. But this weekend is not about who wins and who loses, it is all about the fun…the experience. And Lundqvist looked like he had a blast. In interviews and by watching the games it was very evident that Hank was enjoying himself.
PK Subban's glove-throw and between-the-legs attempt on Henrik Lundqvist… just a classic! Gotta love @PKSubban1! pic.twitter.com/WRCZQaonqd
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) January 28, 2018
Back to Business on Broadway
The All-Star Weekend was great fun and a nice break away from the action, but it is now time for Lundqvist and the Rangers to get serious again. The Rangers are sixth in the Metropolitan Division and 20th in the NHL right now. As February quickly approaches, so does April, and with April comes the playoffs. As of right now, the Rangers are on the outside looking in and need to battle to get a spot. In order to do this, Lundqvist needs to step up his game even further in order to give the Rangers the best shot. But to go with that, New York needs to give him help defensively and get some offensive pressure and score. The Rangers are back in action Feb. 1 when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
#NYR @HLundqvist30 thanks the @TBLightning, the city of Tampa and the @NHL for a great #NHLAllStar weekend + a message for RangersTown. https://t.co/GDdkQmCFJq
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 29, 2018
This season, Lundqvist has started in 41 games, posting a record of 21-13-4 with a goals average against (GAA) of 2.61 and a save percentage of .922% with two shutouts.
