Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist appears in his 1,000th game with club
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist protects the net against the Washington Capitals during the second period of an NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist appeared in his 1,000th game with the Rangers, including playoff games, in Wednesday night’s 3-2 win over the Hurricanes at the Garden.
He made 41 saves and was named the game’s first star.
“You’re talking about a guy who takes incredibly good care of himself,’’ coach David Quinn said of Lundqvist who, in his last start (Monday’s 3-2 overtime victory over Minnesota) passed Curtis Joseph for fifth on the all-time goalie wins list, with his 455th.
“His work ethic is unmatched and that has not stopped,” Quinn said. “And, you know, nobody loves winning more than him, and no one hates losing more than him. So, you know, it’s been, it’s been a lot of fun for me to be around him the last year plus, and appreciate what a great goalie he is.’’
Lundqvist is the sixth player to appear in 1,000 regular season/playoff games for the franchise, joining Brian Leetch, Harry Howell, Rod Gilbert, Ron Greschner and Walt Tkaczuk. In addition, his 872 regular season appearances is one shy of tying Tony Esposito for the second-most appearances by a goaltender with one franchise.
Staal skates for first time since surgery
Defenseman Marc Staal skated for the first time Wednesday since having surgery Nov. 8 to address an infection on his ankle, Quinn said.
“He made good progress again today,’’ Quinn said of Staal, who missed his ninth game. “He put a skate on and took some more hard strides today and it was a step in the right direction.’’
Staal has played in 11 games this season with one goal, one assist and a plus-2 rating.
Blue notes
Micheal Haley was scratched to make room for Mika Zibanejad. Fourth-liner Greg McKegg missed his second game with a lower-body injury . . . The Rangers, who have struggled on faceoffs all season, won only 28 of 70 (40 percent), but Zibanejad won 15 of 29 . . . D Jacob Trouba led the Rangers in ice time with 24:20 . . . D Brady Skjei (21:35) was the only other Ranger with more than 20 minutes of ice time.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
