The acceleration up the record books might have slowed down a little bit as the Rangers have gone through this rebuild, but goalie Henrik Lundqvist continues to climb nonetheless.
The Blueshirts’ 37-year-old netminder made 30 saves and backstopped his team to a 4-1 win over the Capitals on Wednesday night at the Garden, making it career win No. 454 for Lundqvist, which ties him for fifth all-time with Curtis Joseph.
“It’s an honor to be in that company,” Lundqvist said. “So many great goalies, and a lot of them have been an inspiration to me growing up. It’s been taking a little longer here the last two years here to get the wins, but just have to continue to battle to see how many wins I end up with.
“But it means a lot to me, it really does. Proud feeling, for sure.”
It also happened to be career appearance No. 869, allowing him to pass Grant Fuhr and take sole possession of 10th place all time.
After getting sent down Sunday, Lias Andersson played in his first game with AHL Hartford on Wednesday afternoon, the 21-year-old center scoring during his team’s 3-1 loss to visiting Syracuse. The No. 7-overall pick from 2017 was struggling to make an impact with the Rangers, but the successful Wolf Pack could be a healthy place for him to grow.
“I think if he does all the things we have touched on, he will produce, because he has an offensive side to him,” coach David Quinn said. “I think they go hand-in-hand.”
Andersson had no goals and one assist in 17 games with the Rangers this season, and has three goals and nine points in 66 career games.
Quinn said that top-line center Mika Zibanejad skated by himself again on Wednesday morning before he missed his 10th straight game with an upper-body injury. Yet the coach did not rule him out for the team’s weekend trip to Canada — Friday night in Ottawa and Saturday night in Montreal.
“He’s getting close,” Quinn said. “It’s day-to-day, and everything’s on the table.”
Tim Gettinger made his season debut after he had been called up on Sunday, playing 6:55 and getting three shots on net. Standing 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, the 21-year-old winger played on the Rangers’ fourth line with Greg McKegg and Brendan Smith.
Micheal Haley, the rugged winger who cleared waivers on Monday but stayed with the team, was a scratch.