Friday hockey: Lundqvist tops goalie-heavy Hall class; Lombardi scores first AHL goal
Toronto – Henrik Lundqvist knew the call – if it was indeed coming – would light up his phone in the early evening.
The former New York Rangers goalie was home in Sweden. The Hockey Hall of Fame’s selection committee was busy in Toronto paring down its 2023 list.
Lundqvist eventually saw a number he didn’t recognize.
The only problem? It read “Spain.”
“It just didn’t make sense with the caller ID,” Lundqvist recalled thinking back in June.
Still, he decided to answer. Hall of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald was on the other end.
The 2012 Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top netminder headlines the class set to be inducted Monday night.
“Very humbling,” Lundqvist said Friday at the ring ceremony. “A great feeling when you’re walking away from the game.”
He will be joined by former Red Wing Mike Vernon, Tom Barrasso, Pierre Turgeon and Caroline Ouellette as part of a goalie-heavy player category. Former NHL coach Ken Hitchcock and the late Pierre Lacroix, who was both an agent and executive, will go in as builders.
A star netminder in the league for 15 seasons, Lundqvist was selected in his first year of eligibility. He's sixth in NHL history in wins (459), ninth in games (887) and 17th in shutouts (64).
Those 459 victories are the most by a European goalie. The first Swedish goaltender to be inducted, Lundqvist won 61 more times in the playoffs before his career ended in 2020 because of a heart condition.
Selected in the seventh round by New York at the 2000 NHL draft, he backstopped the Rangers to the 2014 Stanley Cup final. He won Olympic gold with Sweden in 2006.
“This is kind of the last hurrah,” Lundqvist said. “Extremely proud and grateful.”
Vernon won the Cup with his hometown Calgary Flames in 1989 and the Red Wings in 1997 – adding the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP with that second title.
Barrasso won both the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year and the Vezina during a magical 1983-84 season with the Buffalo Sabres out of high school as a phenom from the Boston area. He won titles with Pittsburgh in 1991 and 1992.
Turgeon had 515 goals and 812 assists in 19 NHL seasons. The former New York Islanders star was the captain of the Montreal Canadiens in the team’s final season at the Montreal Forum.
Hitchcock, fourth on the NHL victories list with 849, won the Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999 in a 22-season career behind NHL benches.
Lacroix, who died in December 2020 at age 72, was an agent before being named general manager of the Quebec Nordiques in 1994. He moved with the franchise when it relocated to Colorado.
Ouellette won four Olympic gold medals with Canada’s women’s team.
Friday NHL games
Washington 4, (at) New Jersey 2: Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Beck Malenstyn scored 15 seconds apart in the first period, and Evgeny Kuznetsov had two goals for the Capitals.
Tom Wilson had two assists and Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves as Washington won for the fifth time in seven games 5-1-1.
Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer scored for New Jersey, which lost for the third time in four games. Vitek Vanecek gave up two goals on five shots before he was replaced by Akira Schmid midway through the first period. Schmid finished with 18 saves.
(At) Buffalo 3, Minnesota 2: Jeff Skinner and JJ Peterka each had a goal and an assist, and Buffalo beat Minnesota.
Henri Jokiharju also scored as the Sabres won for the fourth time in six games (4-1-1). Devon Levi made 31 saves.
Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek scored for the Wild, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 22 shots. Minnesota has lost six of eight (2-5-1).
(At) Florida 5, Carolina 2: Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist to lift Florida.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots on the way to winning his fourth consecutive start. Rookie Uvis Balinskis got his first NHL goal for Florida, and Kevin Stenlund added an empty-netter with 3:42 left for the Panthers. Sam Reinhart had two assists.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes, which had won five of six. Antti Raanta made 30 saves.
(At) Toronto 5, Calgary 4 (SO): Max Domi scored in the fifth round of the shootout and Toronto beat Calgary.
William Nylander had two goals and an assist, and John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok also scored as the Maple Leafs won for the second time in three games. Joseph Woll made 24 saves.
Nylander extended his franchise-record point streak to open a season to 14 games.
Connor Zary, Nikita Zadorov, A.J. Greer and Martin Pospisil had goals for Calgary, which snapped a two-game win streak. MacKenzie Weegar added two assists and Dan Vladar stopped 32 shots.
Philadelphia 6, (at) Anaheim 3: Travis Sanheim had a goal and two assists as Philadelphia overcame Anaheim rookie Leo Carlsson’s first career hat trick.
Cam Atkinson had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia, which had dropped two straight and five of six. Owen Tippett helped put the game away with two third-period goals, including an empty-netter.
Sean Couturier and Louie Belpedio also scored for the Flyers. Samuel Errson stopped 35 shots, and Joel Farabee added two assists.
Carlsson, the second overall pick in June’s NHL draft, became the youngest player in Anaheim’s 30-year history to have a hat trick at 18 years, 319 days. Lukas Dostal made 30 saves for the Ducks, who have lost their last two after a six-game winning streak. Alex Killorn had two assists.
(At) Vegas 5, San Jose 0: Alec Martinez scored two goals and Vegas dominated possession in beating San Jose.
Alex Pietrangelo had a goal and two assists, and William Karlsson had a goal and an assist, and Brett Howden also scored for the Golden Knights. Michael Amadio had two assists and Adin Hill made 20 saves in recording his second shutout of the season and seventh of his career.
Vegas snapped a two-game slide, its only regulation losses this season. The Sharks entered the game off its only two victories.
The Knights’ reign over their Pacific Division rival continued, with Vegas now owning a 22-2-5 all-time record against the Sharks.
Lombardi scores first AHL goal
Red Wings prospect Amadeus Lombardi scored his first AHL goal in Grand Rapids' 7-3 loss against the Toronto Marlies on Friday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
Lombardi, a fourth-round pick in 2022, was named the third star and extended his scoring streak to three games.
Sebastian Cossa allowed six goals on 28 shots and Carter Mazur received a misconduct for abuse of officials with :39 seconds left in the third period.
Minnesota 4, Michigan 3
No. 8 Michigan lost 4-3 to No. 6 Minnesota at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor on Friday.
Rutger McGroarty, Dylan Duke and Frank Nazar scored goals, Seamus Casey and TJ Hughes had two assists each and Jake Barczewski made 23 saves for the Wolverines.
Penn State 4, Michigan State 3 (SO)
Isaac Howard, Daniel Russell and Patrick Geary scored goals for the Spartans (7-3-1), who had a 3-0 lead after 33 minutes before losing to Penn State 4-3 in a shootout.
Trey Augustine made 37 saves for Michigan State.
United States 5, Czechia 4
LJ Mooney scored 1:09 into overtime to lift the U.S. national U17 team to a 5-4 win over Czechia at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.
Team USA will face Canada White in the final today against Canada White at 4 p.m.
Smaby named world junior select coach
Minneapolis native Matt Smaby was named head coach of the 2023 U.S. Junior Select team, which will compete in the World Junior A Challenge in Truro, Nova Scotia, from Dec.10-17. Dearborn Heights' Mike Leone and Novi's Evan Dixon are assistant coaches with Carter Krier of Moorhead, Minn.
Smaby (Waterloo Black Hawks/USHL) was selected 41st overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2003 after playing three years for the University of North Dakota and then parts of four seasons with the Lightning in the NHL, in the AHL, and with Munich in the DEL.
Leone (Green Bay Gamblers) played three years at Western Michigan and four years in the ECHL for the Toledo Walleye and the Kalamazoo Wings. Dixon (Dubuque Fighting Saints) played four seasons at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and one season with Fayetteville of the Southern Professional Hockey League.
Local hockey this week
Friday's games
▶ Toronto 7, Grand Rapids 3
▶ Minnesota 4, Michigan 3
▶ Penn State 4, Michigan State 3 (SO)
▶ St. Cloud State 3, Western Michigan 2
▶ Michigan Tech 4, Bermidji State 2
▶ Northern Michigan 6, Lake Superior State 4
▶ Minnesota State 6, Ferris State 2
Saturday's games
▶ Columbus at Red Wings, 1 (BSD/97.1)
▶ Grand Rapids at Toronto, 7 (AHL/106.9)
▶ Minnesota at Michigan, 7 (Big Ten+)
▶ Penn State at Michigan State, 4 (Big Ten/730)
▶ St. Cloud State at Western Michigan, 6
▶ Michigan Tech at Bermidji State, 7
▶ Lake Superior State at Northern Michigan, 6
▶ Minnesota State at Ferris State, 7
▶ Little Caesars U19 girls at CCM World Invite/Detroit
Monday game
Canada White 3, United States 2 (SO) in World U17 Challenge
Tuesday games
▶ N.Y. Rangers 5, Red Wings 3
▶ Canada Red 4, United States 3 (OT)
Thursday game
▶ Montreal 3, Red Wings 2 (OT)