Lundqvist didn’t want Kings to celebrate at MSG

After a strong 40-of-41 save performance that included a third period in which New York was out-shot 15-1, Henrik Lundqvist was in the mood to talk after Wednesday night’s Rangers win, and he shared a strong viewpoint on the need to win Game 4, saying “We didn’t want to see the Cup coming out on our home ice tonight. Yeah, just the thought of it makes me feel sick.”

“But, you know, obviously the goal is to see it through Game 7,” Lundqvist continued. “But there’s so much work to be done here, we’re just looking at the next game as a great challenge for us. Again, when they get going, they’re a good team. But at the same time when I compare them to maybe Pittsburgh, they have a lot of skill. Montréal had a lot of speed. But this team, they do every little thing right. They make it tough for you in every little situation. Sometimes you think you have everything under control, and they create something from basically nothing. You know, they’re shooting the puck, going for rebounds. You have to be on your toes all the time.”

More from Lundqvist and Rangers coach Alain Vigneault:

Henrik Lundqvist, on his performance, and how nervous he was in the final minute:
I felt good tonight. I must say, I felt pretty good in every game. It’s just tonight, we had the bounces. We talked about it the first couple games where, you know, especially against this team, you need that little extra puck luck. They play a lot around the net, a lot of deflections, screens. Sometimes it’s going to hit you and sometimes it’s not. You have to keep telling yourself you’re doing the right things. So that’s what I did. Going into this game, I didn’t want to change anything. I just tried to go out and compete. A couple close calls. But when you play this game, you have to battle, but then you have to rely on your teammates. Sometimes you have to rely on some luck. Tonight we had it a couple times. But we played a strong game. But when they turn it up, you know, I think we can match that. But it’s an intense game. Last couple minutes, you know, they came hard. But we’ve been in that situation before. You just have to trust yourself, trust the system we have, trust your teammates that we’re doing
the right things. I felt like we were a lot better tonight. Being in the lane, especially from their point shots, you know, it was tougher for them to get them through. That’s a big part of their game.

Lundqvist, on how elimination games bring out the best in him and his teammates:
Well, it’s about competing. When everything is on the line, you just have to challenge yourself the right way, I guess, as a team and personally. You have to go out there and leave everything out there and be extremely focused. One mistake and the season is over. You’re definitely aware of that. When you go out to these types of games where, you know, you know everything can be over after this period or after the next two periods. You try even harder to be focused and making the right decisions out there. It’s exciting, though. It’s extremely tough, but it’s fun, especially when it’s that intense out there, a lot of action. Always great to win at home.

Lundqvist, on whether he builds up snow, or whether it naturally amasses:
It’s probably the product of moving a lot. I stay deep in the net, so there’s a lot of snow there. Obviously a couple times where, like I said, you just have to rely on your teammates and luck. I thought I had it because I felt the puck, felt like I got a good piece of it on that deflection. I was yelling at the ref to blow the whistle. Then I realized it was behind me for a couple seconds. I actually apologized. But he was cool about it. But, again, I didn’t chase anything going into this game. It’s so fast. The game is so fast. You can’t question yourself, you know, when you lose. Sometimes you need to correct things. But that’s what I said after last game. You need to be careful when you analyze your game. If I start changing things, it’s not going to be good for me or the team. Sometimes you just have to believe in what you’re doing even though you’re not getting the result you want.

Lundqvist, on drawing on past experiences in an elimination game:
Well, I think we believe in each other in that situation. That’s huge. To know that you can pull it off even though they’re coming at you in a lot of different ways. I think it starts with a mental belief that, you know, we’re doing the right things out there and it’s going to pay off. Especially in a play like this, every little play matters. I think we did so many good things that in the end it paid off for us. Obviously
being in this situation before, yeah, I think it helps us. Again, it’s coming back to the system and believing that what we’re doing out there is working for us. The way we played tonight, that’s why we’re in the Final, I think. We try to do everything the right way. When it’s time to rely on skill, you do that. But there’s a lot of times where you just have to keep it simple and work extremely hard.

Lundqvist, on what he meant my saying he needed to raise his level to Jonathan Quick’s:
Well, honestly, I mean, I talked to my goalie coach, too, about it. I’ve been feeling good in all the games. I’m reacting to the pucks the right way. I’m not making the first move. But sometimes you just have to accept, you know, the bounces are coming at you. You can’t change your game just because it happens. I would do the same thing even though you know the result. Yesterday when I said I have to be better, being okay or good is not going to win you games right now. You have to be better than that. But I don’t feel like I’ve been giving up bad goals. I think I’m playing my game. I have to believe in what I’m doing out there. Tonight with a great team game and some luck, we got a good result.

Lundqvist, on Dan Girardi’s stick breaking, followed by Dustin Brown’s breakaway goal:
Yeah, I’m not going to lie. The first thought was, Here we go again. I guess the important thing was to respond the right way. They had a couple chances right after to make saves right away. At that point I just kept telling myself, ‘We need to keep this score going into the third.’ That was my approach. They had a little push late in the second after that goal to try to get back in an even game. It felt extremely important to, you know, keep the puck out. But it’s always mentally challenging when things happen, especially with things like that. You feel like you have a lot of it under control and you get a bad break. You just have to respond the right way and stay positive.

Alain Vigneault, on New York’s performance:
Well, it was a real tough game I think for L.A. It was probably their best game of the playoffs that they’ve played against us. I thought we were real good until they scored their first goal, their only goal, when Dan broke his stick. I thought after that we weren’t maybe as efficient as we had been until that time. But our guys competed. I mean, they’re a real good team. They threw everything they had at us. Our goaltender stood tall, gave us a chance. We have another chance. We get to play.

Vigneault, on whether Henrik Lundqvist “took it upon himself” to lead New York to victory:
He had to make some huge saves in the second and the third. He got and we got a few bounces. You need those. Maybe the luck is changing a little bit. We’ve got to keep competing hard, keep working. We get another chance to play. We’re going to be ready for it.

Vigneault, on what the team did to preserve the two-goal lead:
Goaltender was real good.

Vigneault, on whether he knew the puck was sitting on the goal line for as long as it did:
I knew it wasn’t in because the light wasn’t going on. I didn’t know exactly where it was. I was able to see the replay after. Thank God for soft ice now and then.

Vigneault, on having shuffled the lines:
Just thought that Dom had been playing some good hockey. I just felt for tonight it was time to maybe give our team a different look on certain occasions. I thought for the most part we were all right, but I know that we can be better. I expect us to be better next game.

Vigneault, on how Brad Richards reacted to the line adjustments:
Yeah, I mean, this morning I met all the lines individually, talked about certain assignments that I wanted. I talked to Brad’s line. I talked to Brad about the decision I made. I mean, at this time of the year it’s only about one thing: it’s about the team. You guys now how Richards has been this year, the ultimate pro. He’s fine with whatever I do.

Vigneault, on Dan Girardi’s stick breaking being bad luck:
I mean, that’s where I thought we were playing a real solid game until then. That put us on our heels a little bit. I think this group will learn from that. I definitely know we’re going to be better next game.

Vigneault, on Derek Stepan swiping the puck away and not covering it:
That’s player instincts, player knowing the rules. Stepan’s a real smart player.

Vigneault, on what he was thinking on the bench during a lopsided third period:
You’re trying to tell your players not to play on their heels, keep managing the puck, let’s make plays. But, you know, at some point you got to give credit to the opposition. Like I said, I mean, that’s the best that they’ve played in this series. They came at us real hard. Fortunately we were able to stand tall, bend not break. When we did bend a little bit more, our goaltender made some big saves.

Vigneault, on whether he can tell quickly that Lundqvist is on his game:
Anytime I put Henrik in goal, I know I got a chance to win. You know, he’s a great goaltender. He really proved that again tonight.

Vigneault, on whether Anton Stralman has been a “hero”:
Anton plays top minutes. He’s been real steady managing the puck. He’s defended really well. He’s really an important player for us.

Vigneault, on how superstitious he is:
I’ve been in the game a long time to know that sometimes the hockey gods are there. They were there tonight.