Henrik and twin brother Joel were born March 2, 1982 in Are, Sweden. Both discovered a love for hockey as children. During the winter, their kindergarten teacher used a sandpit to freeze and create an ice rink where the twins learned to skate. Their father often took them to watch Frölunda play, and that team became the boys' favourite. In 1990, the twins began playing organized hockey for the first time. During one practice, the coach asked if anyone wanted to be a goalie and Joel raised Henrik's hand.

Both boys were scouted by Frölunda while playing for Rögle BK in the 1998 Scandinavium Cup and joined the team for the 1999‐2000 season. That year, they also played for Sweden at the IIHF World Junior Championship, winning the bronze medal.

Henrik was drafted by the New York Rangers in the 7th round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 205th overall, but continued playing with Frölunda where he won the Honken Trophy (Best Goaltender) in 2003, 2004 and 2005 as well as the Guldpuicken (Golden Puck for Swedish Player of the Year) and Guldhjalmen (Golden Helmet for Most Valuable Player in the Swedish League). In December 2004, The Hockey News rated Lundqvist the sixth-best European prospect. He was the only goaltender in their European top 10 list.

He joined the Rangers in 2005‐06 as back‐up to Kevin Weekes, but Weekes was injured in the second game of the season. Lundqvist completed the regular season with 30 wins, establishing a franchise record for rookie goaltenders. He also had the NHL's fifth‐best goals‐against average (2.24) and fourth‐best save percentage (.922), earning a spot on the NHL All‐Rookie Team and was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy. His dominating play that season earned him the nickname, 'King Henrik.' Lundqvist's outstanding NHL career had begun with a bang, and was consistently solid through the years. He was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy five times, winning the award in 2011‐12. That same season, Henrik was also a finalist for the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award as the League's Most Valuable Player. Henrik was named to the NHL's First All‐Star Team in 2011‐12 and Second All‐Star Team in 2012‐13, and played in the NHL All‐Star Games in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2018 and 2019. In 2019 and 2020, Lundqvist was a nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy.

He is the only goaltender in NHL history to win at least 20 games in 13 consecutive seasons, and became the first goaltender to win at least 30 games in his first seven NHL seasons. He would add four more seasons with 30+ wins during the regular season. Through 15 seasons with the New York Rangers, Lundqvist played 887 regular season games, winning 459, losing 310 and with 96 overtime losses. He had 64 shutouts. His career goals‐against average was 2.43 and save percentage was .918. In NHL playoff action, he played 130 games with 61 wins and 67 losses along with 10 shutouts. His goal-against average was 2.30 and save percentage was .921. King Henrik is the winningest goaltender in New York Rangers franchise history, earned the most shutouts in franchise history and set the record for most playoff wins in franchise history. His dominant play led the Rangers to the Presidents' Trophy, finishing first overall in 2014‐15.

In October 2020, Lundqvist, a free agent, signed a one‐year contract with the Washington Capitals, although open-heart surgery scuttled that plan and he never played with Washington. On August 20, 2021, Henrik Lundqvist announced his retirement. That same day, the Rangers announced that they would retire his number 30, which was retired on January 28, 2022. At the time of his retirement, Lundqvist ranked fifth in wins by an NHL goalie and held the record for most wins by a European‐born goaltender in NHL history.

While representing Sweden at the Olympic Winter Games, Lundqvist won a gold medal in 2006 in Turin and a silver medal in 2014 in Sochi. He was selected to the Olympic All‐Star Team in 2014. Additionally, Henrik collected silver medals with Sweden at the IIHF Men's World Championship in 2003 and 2004 and gold in 2017. He was selected as Best Goaltender and to the tournament all‐star team at the Championship in 2004. In 2015, Lundqvist and Sweden took the bronze medal at the World Cup of Hockey in Toronto. He was voted to the IIHF All‐Time Sweden Team in 2020.

After a sterling goaltending career, Henrik Lundqvist was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Player Category in 2023.