New York Rangers: The end of an amazing streak for Henrik Lundqvist

With the Rangers eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, the next game for Henrik Lundqvist will be the first game he will play that doesn’t have playoff implications.

Henrik Lundqvist is a guaranteed Hall of Famer and holds several franchise records. He was the fastest goalie to 400 wins in NHL history. The King was the first goalie to win 30 games in his first seven years in the NHL.  He is the winningest European born goaltender. Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy and is a four-time All-Star.   He has won an Olympic gold medal and a World Championship.

He holds the Ranger team records by a goalie for wins, shutouts, games played and saves.  Even in this discouraging season, he has set records.  Less than a month ago he became the only goalie in NHL history to record back-to-back wins while making over 50 saves.  In January he became the only goalie in NHL history to record 20 wins in 13 consecutive seasons.

The Streak

There is one streak that will come to an end the next time he takes to the ice. Since 2005-06 when he began his Ranger career, Henrik Lundqvist has never played in a game without being in contention for a playoff spot.  That is a total of 801 games spanning 13 seasons.  Even in 2010, the last time the team missed the post season, it came down to a shootout in the final game of the campaign.

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No other active goalie is even close. Marc-Andre Fleury has played 663 straight games with playoff implications and this streak will continue with Vegas. However, he did have meaningless games in his career that began for a Penguins team that missed the playoffs.

Only two active NHL players have longer streaks than Lundqvist and both will keep them going as they play for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Former Ranger Dan Girardi is at 859 games and counting as he prepares for the playoffs.  The longest streak belongs to Chris Kunitz who has never played a meaningless game since 2003, a span of 1,005 games.

The all-time record belongs to Niklas Lidstrom who played 20 seasons and 1,564 games for Detroit without missing the playoffs. Behind him is Larry Robinson who played 20 seasons for Montreal and Los Angeles and never missed the playoffs. a total of 1,384 games.

Missing the playoffs this year means the end of another Ranger streak as Marc Staal has played in 755 straight games that had meaning since 2007, his rookie season. By his trade to Tampa, Ryan McDonagh will continue his active streak of 524 games.

Long Live the King

It is no mistake that the start of the Rangers’ outstanding streak of meaningful games coincided with the debut of Henrik Lundqvist.  He has been the Rangers’ best player for 13 seasons and the primary reason that every game for each of those seasons has had significance.  When the 2018-19 season begins in October all Ranger fans hope that his leadership will help a fresh generation of New York Rangers begin a new streak of playoff appearances and success.

The Top Active Players

Here are the top 15 active players and their current streaks (through March 26).  Note that Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith saw their streaks end on March 20 when the Chicago Blackhawks were eliminated.   Jonathan Toews has not played since that date so technically, his streak is still ongoing.

* Have never played in a meaningless game.