Morning Skate: Henrik Lundqvist keeps chasing down the greats

Henrik Lundqvist himself would probably tell you this season hasn’t been his best.

At one point, he was benched for one of the few times in his career. When he came back, he got completely decked by a Dallas Star. His consistency has wavered. His numbers are worse than usual.

But, despite all of that, he’s knocked down some pretty heady milestones along the way. A month ago, he joined the exclusive 400-win club. He passed Dominik Hašek on the wins list in January. He passed Chris Osgood last month.

And yesterday, he passed Grant Fuhr and broke into the top 10 on the NHL’s all-time wins list. The King is just 35 years old, playing on one of the NHL’s best teams. It’s not inconceivable to think he could pass Glenn Hall ... and then Tony Esposito ... and then Jacques Plante ... and then Terry Sawchuk ... and then Rober—wait.

Roberto Luongo is fifth all-time in wins?

One of the more notable Pretty Good players of the last decade hung up his skates yesterday. He’s also the subject of the greatest hockey GIF of all time ... and maybe the first Great Hockey GIF™.

This is the week the Sabres’ hopes died.

What kind of trades could the Leafs make with Vegas?

The Lightning making the playoffs? A false hope.

The Senators could get a huge boost from a USA World Juniors hero. And so could the Blues.

Do you want to buy Patrice Bergeron’s condo?

Ondrej Pavelec’s career with Winnipeg is likely over.

Are the playoffs even a realistic goal for the Stars?

Artemi Panarin apologized for an old racist comment after it surfaced this week.

An annual college hockey contender fired its coach yesterday.

The Ice Garden has an update on the NCAA tournament.

Joe Thornton hit a big milestone, too.