Rangers’ Jonathan Quick is One Win Away From Making NHL History

When the Los Angeles Kings traded Jonathan Quick nearly two years ago, who would have ever thought he would be sitting atop the NHL at 38-years-old playing for his childhood favorite team?

No. 32 made an apropos 32 saves against the Boston Bruins in the New York Rangers’ 2-1 win at Madison Square Garden Thursday to pull himself within one win of 400 career victories.

Quick would become the first American goaltender to reach 400 in the history of the NHL.

With the Rangers having placed starter Igor Shesterkin on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, Quick will have ample opportunity to achieve the milestone.

Talk about apropos, Quick has back-to-back opportunities to do it on nationally broadcasted games. The first will be against the Washington Capitals on Saturday at noon and the next across from the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

“Most importantly, it means that I’ve been lucky enough to play on a lot of great teams and had a lot of teammates and coaches that value winning above anything else,” Quick told NHL.com. “Just grateful for the work all those guys put in around me in order for me to be in a position to try to accomplish it.”

Quick is showing positive regression since he signed a one-year deal with the Rangers ahead of last season. He posted an 18-6-2 record in his first season on Broadway with a .911 save percentage and a 2.62 goals against average.

This season, he’s only improved, sporting an above-ground 6-4-0 record, a .913 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against despite the free-falling season the Rangers have been plummeting in.

He’s already tied his shutout total from last season with two to round out to 62, placing him No. 18 overall on the all-time list and No. 1 among Americans, which he’s been since surpassing Ryan Miller at 45 when still in Los Angeles back in 2017.

Quick re-signed with New York after last season to push the twilight magic a bit further.

“I just kind of looked at it as a new opportunity, right,” Quick said. “That last year I was with L.A. it was the same thing, it was an opportunity to play and try to have success. You turn the page when they trade you and you go somewhere else. Then you do it again and you look forward to that opportunity for how you can help the team in whatever way you can.”

While Quick grew up idolizing former Rangers Hall of Fame goaltender Mike Richter, the league is filled with American-born goalies who were growing up while Quick dominated in the peak of his career. One of which is Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, who played opposite of Quick on Thursday.

Swayman praised Quick during a TV timeout after the latter made a sensational sprawling leg save on Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy.

“He’s quietly put together this career,” Richter said of Quick. “When the Rangers went to the Stanley Cup Final against him in 2014, we had Henrik Lundqvist and we all know how great he was. I knew how good of a goalie Quick was, but after that first game, the way he played, it was like, ‘Oh my God, our advantage has diminished, it’s gone, because this guy between the pipes on the other end is sensational.’ I don’t think people still fully appreciate how good he is.”