Ranking Henrik Lundqvist's 6 Best Moments as a New York Ranger

As optimistic as personnel gurus for the New York Rangers might have been heading into the 2000 NHL draft, it's hard to fathom they knew what was waiting for them in the seventh round.

Still, it was there, after 204 players had already been taken, that the Rangers' brass pulled the trigger on an anonymous 18-year-old Swede who eventually changed the course of the franchise.

Two decades after that fortuitous selection, Henrik Lundqvist holds every team goaltending record worth mentioning—including most games, minutes, wins, shutouts and saves in the regular season, as well as matching playoff marks for games, wins and shutouts.

The King has been both the foundation and face of the franchise since arriving in midtown Manhattan in 2005, backstopping the Rangers into the playoffs in 12 of 15 seasons and saving his best work for a memorable run through the 2014 postseason all the way to a Stanley Cup Final appearance.

But alas, nothing lasts forever.

The Rangers fell in five games to the Los Angeles Kings that spring, and Lundqvist saw his role gradually reduced this season as the team turned to a pair of 24-year-old Russians—Alexandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin—down the stretch. He made his final start for the Rangers on March 1, 2020, and started twice more in last year's qualifying round, during which New York was swept in three by the Carolina Hurricanes.

And now, the King says goodbye. Lundqvist, 39, has officially retired from the game of hockey after spending 15 years competing at the highest level.

To honor that legacy, the B/R ice hockey team gathered once again to compile a ranking of the stellar Swede's best moments.

We came up with a final list of six, which we present to you here. Reminisce while you click through, see if yours matches up with ours and feel free to drop a comment or two with any suggestions.

And so it begins.

Because Lundqvist has worn the Rangers' red, white and blue so well for so long, it may be difficult to remember when the goal creases at Madison Square Garden and elsewhere weren't his to command.

In fact, he entered the 2005-06 season—the first after a prolonged work stoppage in the NHL—as a backup to presumed starter Kevin Weekes, who'd won a career-best 23 games in 66 starts for the Carolina Hurricanes before signing with New York as a free agent.

Weekes, however, suffered a groin injury soon after a season-opening defeat of the Philadelphia Flyers, clearing the way for Lundqvist to get the start three days later against the New Jersey Devils. He dropped a 3-2 overtime decision on the road that night but allowed one goal on 21 shots while defeating the Devils at the Garden five days later, beginning a stretch of seven wins in 10 starts that earned him the No. 1 job.

Along the way, he stopped 23 shots while recording his first shutout against the Florida Panthers—becoming the first Rangers rookie to do so since John Vanbiesbrouck—and ultimately completed his rookie year with 30 wins in 53 appearances while compiling a 2.24 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.

We're not in chronological order here, so there may be some spoilers.

After welcoming Lundqvist to the NHL at the expense of Kevin Weekes, we'll fast-forward nine years to one of his finest individual performances in Game 4 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.

After finishing second in the Metropolitan Division and fifth overall in the Eastern Conference, the Rangers caught fire in the postseason, defeating the division rival Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers in matching seven-game series before eliminating the Montreal Canadiens in six to advance to the championship round.

There, they faced the Los Angeles Kings, who were seeking a second title in three seasons after winning it all in 2012. The Kings won the first game in overtime and the second in double overtime, then they took a commanding lead with a 3-0 shutout from Jonathan Quick in Game 3.

Determined not to become the first team swept in the Final since 1998, Lundqvist and Co. stiffened their resolve in Game 4. The stingy Swede made 40 saves on 41 shots in a 2-1 New York victory, sweeping away two pucks from near disaster on the goal line and holding firm throughout a one-sided third period in which the Kings outshot the Rangers 15-1 but did not score.

It only delayed the inevitable before the Kings won the Cup in double overtime on home ice 48 hours later. But when it comes to big moments on big stages, it'd be hard to surpass Lundqvist's that night.

Speaking of big stages, they often bring big crowds.

And Lundqvist never performed before a bigger crowd than the 46,967 on hand at the NHL's Winter Classic in January 2012, played on the Philadelphia Flyers' outdoor ice at Citizens Bank Park.

He stopped 24 of 26 shots through the initial two periods as the Rangers arrived at the final 20 minutes down 2-1 before goals from Mike Rupp and Brad Richards in the first six minutes staked them to a 3-2 lead.

Lundqvist stood tall as play went end to end into the final few minutes, but never taller than with 19.6 seconds remaining after the Flyers were awarded a penalty shot when Ryan McDonagh was called for covering the puck in the goal crease.

The shot was given to prolific Philadelphia center Daniel Briere, who'd entered the game with 10 goals and had scored 34 times in 77 games the season before.  

Briere gathered the puck at center ice and stickhandled his way into the slot immediately in front of Lundqvist before snapping a wrist shot aimed at the goalie's five-hole. He was stubbornly denied, however, as Lundqvist dropped to his knees, blocked the try away with his stick and punctuated the exchange with a fist pump.

The win boosted the Rangers to first overall in the standings, and they wound up claiming the top seed at the end of the season but were bounced from the playoffs by the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Final.

Start spreadin' the news.

Though the second slide already dropped a hint as to how things ended, there's no denying the giddiness Lundqvist provided the Rangers' fanbase as the team continued its run through the 2014 playoffs.

New York established a 3-1 lead over the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final before a clearly off-his-game Lundqvist was pulled in the second period of a 7-4 loss in Game 5. He returned in spotlight form two nights later, though, and turned aside all 18 shots sent his way in a 1-0 victory.

The win sent the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup Final since the historic 1994 season, and it might not have happened if not for a remarkable Lundqvist stop on a backhander from Thomas Vanek with less than five minutes to go in the second period of a still-scoreless game.

The Montreal winger came down the left side and flicked a shot toward Lundqvist that was deflected by the stick of diving Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi. The puck lurched up and seemed destined for the top-left corner of the net, but Lundqvist lunged forward and twirled his blocker backward just in time to flick it away, where it was cleared to safety by a teammate.

Three minutes later, Dominic Moore scored the game-winning goal.

This just in: This guy's good.

Lundqvist had accomplished just about everything there was for a goalie to accomplish before taking the ice in February 2017, but a 32-save effort in a 4-2 defeat of the Colorado Avalanche added another milestone.

The win was the 400th of his NHL career, making him both the fastest to reach that number and the first European-born player to do so. Additionally, it joined him with the New Jersey Devils' Martin Brodeur and the Chicago Blackhawks' Tony Esposito as the only goalies to reach 400 with a single team.

Fans at Madison Square Garden chanted "Hen-rik, Hen-rik" in the final moments, and Lundqvist had to make his final save with two seconds remaining. He raised his arms as the game-ending buzzer sounded and got a raucous ovation after being announced as the game's first star.

"I'm just really proud and I'm really thankful for the opportunity," he said. "This organization means so much to me and they've given me this opportunity to play a lot of hockey. ... You hear the crowd, you get goosebumps, and it was just like my first game here when they chanted my name.

"Of course you think about all the people that helped you to this point, teammates, parents, and you get a little sentimental at times when you realize it really happened. At times it is a little surreal when you live this life, but I love it," he added.

An old adage claims "the third time's the charm."

Perhaps, though, it takes a little more practice when it comes to Swedish goalies.

Perennially considered one of the NHL's top goaltenders and already a three-time nominee for the Vezina Trophy that symbolizes the league's absolute best, Lundqvist finally broke through in 2011-12 after a phenomenal regular season that saw him post career bests in three major statistical categories.

He started 62 games and won 39 of them while posting a 1.97 goals-against average and a save percentage of .930. His previous bests in those stats had been 38 wins, a 2.23 GAA and a .923 save percentage.

He was nominated again the following season. And eight years later, they remain his best numbers.

That year, the glittering stats put him ahead of the Nashville Predators' Pekka Rinne and Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings when it came to voting by the league's 30 general managers. He became the first Rangers goalie to win the award since John Vanbiesbrouck in 1986.

"Every time you're nominated, it is a great feeling to be recognized for what you do out there and that people appreciate what you do," Lundqvist said. "... This one means a lot."