On March 14, 2013, Henrik Lundqvist, the goalie for the New York Rangers hockey team, tied Mike Richter’s franchise record of 301 regular season wins by helping to maintain the team’s 4 – 2 lead during the Friday night game. However, after stopping 30 shots total during the game, Lundqvist had to commend teammate Carl Hagelin who scored three of the four points during the game that night.
Lundqvist allowed the team’s opponents for the night, the Winnipeg Jets, to score twice in a wide-open first period. But, the goalie shut Winnipeg down in the second and third periods. One of the spectacular points in the game occurred when Lundquvist made a left pad save just two minutes before Hagelin finished his hat trick, his third score of the night, off a Brad Richards assist.
Kevin Klein, a third-pair defenseman for the Rangers, also played his best game to date with two assists and multiple blocks of offensive shots. Still, Alain Vigneault, coach for the Rangers, was disappointed when his biggest lineup change for the calendar year only resulted in 23 total shots on the Jets’ goalies, Ondrej Pavelec and Al Montoya. However, Vigneault said that he was proud of the team’s performance overall and understands that changes will still need to be made to the lineup. He said that hockey, as a sport, is all about adapting.
However, for the time being Lundqvist is more than contented by the fact that he has tied Ritcher for the record amount of wins during a season. Just one more win will allow Lundqvist to hold the record-breaking title. Commenting on his own performance, Lundqvist said, “I’m really excited and proud about it, and I hope I have a lot more to give.”
For more information on the recent game please visit http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/hockey/rangers/hagelin-hat-trick-helps-rangers-fly-jets-article-1.1722407.
