30 Days of Lundqvist: Duel Shutouts

This one goes all the way back to 2010. January 12, 2010, to be exact.

The New Jersey Devils were in their last year of dominance, being one of the top teams in the entire league. They would go on to finish with 48 wins and 103 points but up to this point, they already had 32 wins and 65 points. In comparison, the Rangers were fading behind, with only 22 wins and 51 points. The Rangers were gaining steam though, collecting three wins in their past four games as they met the Devils at Madison Square Garden.

Martin Brodeur and the Devils had other plans though. The Rangers may have relentlessly peppered them with a barrage of shots, but the Devils held strong in what was one of my most memorable Ranger games of all time. Through three periods and one full overtime, Brodeur turned aside all 51 shots without allowing a goal.

This isn’t about Brodeur though. Despite the performance, Henrik Lundqvist wouldn’t let Brodeur take all the glory. Stopping all 45 shots he faced, Lundqvist put on a goaltending clinic against one of the Rangers biggest rivals, earning the shutout and plenty of admiration from the thousands of Ranger fans watching.

He would end up having to take the loss (losing in the fourth round of the shootout) but Hank gave the Rangers every chance he could for them to win that game. Despite the Devils also generating plenty of good scoring chances, Lundqvist was able to go toe-to-toe with one of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history that game. The Rangers couldn’t find a way to get past Brodeur but Lundqvist was able to match everything Brodeur threw at the Rangers.