Henrik Lundqvist Eyes 300-Win Mark Following the Sochi Olympics

Henrik Lundqvist, who has backstopped Team Sweden to a 3-0 record in the preliminary round of the 2014 Sochi Olympic hockey competition, is two wins shy of his 300th career NHL victory.

In 44 games for the New York Rangers this season, Lundqvist—owner of a 2.44 goals-against average in that span—has compiled a 22-18-3 mark and is currently poised to become the 29th netminder in NHL history to hit the 300-win plateau.

In 555 NHL games to date, Lundqvist, who made his debut with the Rangers on Oct. 8, 2005, is 298-189-60 overall, with 48 career shutouts.

Lundqvist's first opportunity to seek win No. 299 will come once the Rangers return to action against the Blackhawks on Feb. 27. Assuming no injuries, it shouldn't be long after the team's Olympic break is over before the five-time Vezina Trophy nominee—an award that he won in 2011-12—notches his 300th NHL triumph. The Rangers have 23 more games left on their regular-season calendar.

In the meantime, next up for Lundqvist, who helped lead Sweden to Olympic gold in Turin in 2006, will be a quarterfinal contest against either Austria or Slovenia, which is slated to take place on Wednesday.

Either way, Lundqvist has come a long way since the Rangers made him the 205th overall selection in the seventh round of the 2000 NHL entry draft, an event led off by the Islanders’ first overall selection of Rick DiPietro.

A whopping 21 goaltenders, including Brandon Snee—whom the Rangers selected 143rd overall—had their names called before Lundqvist was finally chosen. At age 31 and still going strong, the man they call "King Henrik" has plenty more NHL milestones to look forward to, health permitting.