NEW YORK — Jonathan Quick became the first U.S.-born goaltender to win 400 games, and the 15th overall in NHL history, in the New York Rangers‘ 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night.
Defenseman K’Andre Miller scored the go-ahead goal, and forwards Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and two assists in the New York effort, which began one day after a disheartening 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins, and ended with the milestone.
“It means I’ve been lucky enough to play with a lot of great hockey players that value winning and put that above all else,” Quick said. “I’m grateful that I’ve been on some great teams over the course of my career, this one included.”
Alexis Lafreniere also scored for the Rangers, and J.T. Miller — two days removed from a trade that sent him off the Vancouver Canucks — had two assists in his first home game since returning to New York, the club that originally drafted him in 2011.
Quick had 13 saves in the first period, 14 in the second and seven in the third before being mobbed by his jubilant teammates inside the crease of an arena — Madison Square Garden — that is becoming familiar with this accomplishment. Of those 15 goaltenders in the exclusive 400 club, in fact, Quick, 39, is the fourth to play for the Rangers, joining Henrik Lundqvist, Terry Sawchuk and Jacques Plante.
“It means he’s been really good for a long time,” New York coach Peter Laviolette said of Quick. “First American goaltender to do so, and there’s been a lot of great goaltenders. But if you watch him on a daily basis, it’s not hard to figure out why he reached that number.”
Zibanejad — playing his 900th NHL game — tied the score 2-2 on the power play at 5:04 of the third with his 10th goal, as the Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak.
Jack Eichel scored two goals for Vegas, which lost its third straight. Adin Hill had 24 saves in the loss. Eichel opened the scoring with a power-play goal with 19 seconds remaining in the first period, and added his second at the 9:16 mark of the second period before New York rattled off three straight tallies to conclude the scoring.
Quick, named the game’s first star, hadn’t played since Jan. 19, in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
“It’s his work ethic, it’s the teammate that we get to see on a daily basis,” Laviolette said in his describing the reasons for his goaltender’s success. “He’s a great person that works hard, a total professional, goes about his business every day to try and get better, try to be the best he can be.
“It’s an unbelievable milestone. We’re all really happy for him.”
Quick, Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers, and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Minnesota Wild are the only active goalies with 400 victories.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
