Lundqvist closing in on latest milestone with Rangers

NEW YORK --Henrik Lundqvist had a look on his face that spoke to part astonishment, part intrigue and part why are you even bringing up this stat.
Did you know that you're four saves away from reaching 20,000 for your NHL career?
"No, I didn't know that," a deadpanned Lundqvist told NHL.com on Monday.

Does it mean something to you that when you get it, presumably in the first period when the New York Rangers play the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN, MSG, TVA Sports, NHL.TV), that you will become the 15th goalie in League history with 20,000 saves?
Lundqvist paused for a few seconds to give it some thought.
"No," he responded.

"I mean, it makes you realize you played a lot of hockey to make that amount of saves, but it's not a number I'm looking at."
He's not alone. Goalies don't think of their total saves when they think of their career stats. They think of Stanley Cup championships, wins, maybe shutouts and goals-against average, definitely save percentage, but not saves.
"The wins keep my attention," Lundqvist said.
He has 419 of them, all with the Rangers. He's first in wins among European-born goalies in NHL history, 30 more than Dominik Hasek, one of his childhood idols, and second behind Martin Brodeur, his biggest rival earlier in his NHL career, for most wins with one team.
Brodeur won 688 games with the New Jersey Devils.

"It means a lot to me to be up there with those names," Lundqvist said. "The amount of saves, I don't know, I've never really thought about that number. I'm happy I've been able to play a lot of hockey throughout my 12 and a half seasons here. That's pretty much the only thought I get when I hear 20,000 saves."
He's on his own there, because the reaction from other members of the goalie fraternity when they're told of what Lundqvist is about to accomplish is telling.
"That number is a bit crazy," said Rangers backup goalie Ondrej Pavelec, who has 10,174 saves in his 11-year NHL career.
"That is a lot of vulcanized rubber," said Martin Biron, who played with Lundqvist in New York from 2010-13 and had 12,646 saves in his 508-game NHL career.
"Holy jumpin'," said former NHL goalie Darren Pang, he of the 2,151 saves in his 81-game NHL career.
The key for Lundqvist isn't just the 20,000 saves. It's that when he reaches the milestone he should have the highest save percentage (.920) of the 15 goalies with at least 20,000 saves.
Roberto Luongo (26,739 saves) has a .919 save percentage and Jacques Plante (20,865) finished his NHL career at .919.
Lundqvist, 35, is far from done, so the save percentage stat is incomplete. He might have another 5,000-plus saves in him considering he's averaged 1,610 per season and has three more seasons after this one left on his contract. He might finish better than .920. He might be worse.
"It comes down to amount of starts, obviously," Lundqvist said. "If you start a lot of games you're going to get a lot of saves, otherwise you're not going to be in the League. You've got to earn it, though."
Lundqvist has by constantly adapting to keep himself current and consistent.
"From glove position to glove, to pads and style of pad, to stance, to posture, to playing the puck, there's just a lot of things that he's done to continue evolving his game," said NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes, who played with Lundqvist in New York from 2005-07.
The process is ongoing. Once known for being a goalie who plays deep in his crease, Lundqvist is out challenging the shooter this season more than ever. It's his way of trying to stay ahead, or at least even, with the changing skill in the League.
"You look at the game now and when I started in the League, I think it changed a lot, especially in the last couple of years with the skill and speed, so I'm trying to be more aggressive," Lundqvist said. "I just want to be involved a little bit more. My game is a lot about competing."
Pang said Lundqvist had to change because he was becoming predictable on the goal line.
"When I would sit in a studio for the playoffs and break it down, no matter where I was working, I could always find the same thing over and over again," Pang said. "Therefore, so could the shooters."
Weekes thinks Lundqvist's latest adaptation has helped him combat age and the changing Rangers defense.
"He can't rely on his reflexes the way he did before, not to mention he can't always rely on blocked shots the way he did before," Weekes said. "I give him a lot of credit for being open to evolving because a lot of people, when they have success, the last thing they want to do is change."
It took time for Lundqvist to find his zone this season, to balance his aggressiveness with his technique, to adjust to his adjustments.
He was 2-4-2 with a 3.11 GAA and .900 save percentage in his first nine games. He's 12-3-0 with one shutout, a .925 save percentage and a 2.45 GAA in 16 starts since Oct. 31. His GAA for the season has dropped to 2.69 and his save percentage is up to .916.
"I feel like I'm playing the way I want to play," Lundqvist said. "I'm aggressive. I'm involved. I'm battling hard."
He's making saves. Four more and he'll join an exclusive and yet unrecognized club.
Maybe he'll bring more attention to it.
"20,000 saves, that's just ridiculous," Weekes said. "That's a lot of rubber."