Henrik Lundqvist by the Numbers

Henrik Lundqvist, one of the NHL’s best goaltenders, turned 31 years old Saturday.

During his time with the New York Rangers, Lundqvist has not just endeared himself to the fans and earned the catchy nickname “King Henrik,” but he’s also made the Rangers into a perennial contender.

When it comes to individual awards and statistics, Lundqvist is second to almost no one.

What he lacks is a Stanley Cup. But the Rangers have a strong roster and their championship dream could easily become a reality in the next few years.

Here are some numbers that, in one way or another, help to illustrate Lundqvist’s sublime career.

205

The Rangers drafted Lundqvist with the 205th pick in the 2000 NHL draft.

He was part of the same draft class as Rangers teammate Marian Gaborik.

The Slovakian was drafted quite a number of spots ahead of King Henrik. 202 spots higher to be exact.

Lundqvist didn’t make his Rangers' debut until 2005. He spent  the previous years with Frolunda in his native Sweden.

Of the 293 players drafted in 2000, 118 made it to the NHL. On average, a draftee from that year has played 223 games.

That puts King Henrik's 484 games well above average entering Sunday night's game against the Buffalo Sabres.

2.27

Lundqvist’s career goals-against average is an astonishing 2.27.

That puts him second among all active goalies behind the New Jersey Devils'  Martin Brodeur.

The lowest GAA of his career came last year when he finished with a 1.97. That was good enough for fourth best in the league. This year, Lundqvist’s GAA is 2.31, which is a little above his career average.

However, the signs are pointing in the right direction for King Henrik, as he raised his save percentage from 90.4 in January to 92,8 in February.

25 (Playoff Wins)

In his six trips to the postseason, Lundqvist has 25 wins. Unfortunately for the Rangers, he also has 30 losses.

Last year, the Rangers made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the New Jersey Devils in six games. That was the Rangers’ best performance in the playoffs during Lundqvist’s stay in the Big Apple.

King Henrik, who went 10-10 in the playoffs last year, had a 1.82 GAA in those games, with a 93.1 save percentage and three shutouts.

260

Lundqvist has won 260 games as a New York Ranger.

Although the shortened season is threatening to end his streak of 30-plus-win seasons, he is still on track to end up with another winning season. 

He is 41 wins away from Mike Richter’s franchise record of 301.

At this pace, Lundqvist is set to break Richter’s record in the middle of next season.

43 (Shutouts)

Lundqvist has recorded 43 shutouts as a Blueshirt. His season-high was 11 in 2010-11.

Lundqvist has yet to shut out any teams this season, but the season isn’t even at the halfway point, so there’s plenty of time.

He is six shutouts away from tying Ed Giacomin’s franchise record of 49.

However, Lundqvist still has a long way to go until he can get near Brodeur’s all-time record of 120.

2006

Although Lundqvist has yet to win a Stanley Cup with the Rangers, he’s already achieved the highest honor with his national team.

In 2006, Lundqvist led Sweden to the gold medal in the Turin Olympics. Sweden defeated arch-rival Finland in the final.

The Swedish fans were hungry for revenge after their national team was upset by Belarus in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Tommy Salo, who made a decisive blunder against Belarus, had been replaced by Lundqvist in 2006.

The rest is history.