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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RANGERS v CANADIENSMay 19, 2014Henrik LundqvistMONTREAL, QUEBEC: Game Two Rangers – 3 Q. Henrik, these last five games, I guess, when your guys have faced some adversity, it just seems like the whole team seems to kind of even out a little bit better than they have maybe in some games before that in the playoffs. Do you feel like the temperament of the team has changed a little bit these last five games? HENRIK LUNDQVIST: Well, we've definitely had our ups and downs, but the key is not to get hurt and I think that is the big thing for us. Last couple games we'd go through a stretch where things are going against us, we'd come together and try to keep it really simple and don't get hurt. Then when we have a good stretch, you try to really cash in. Q. Could you describe what that start was like for this game, the way they came out? You probably could have predicted they came out that way but then they scored, and then to score again to change the emotion of the game? HENRIK LUNDQVIST: Well, we knew they were going to come hard, but we put ourselves in a tough spot there by not getting pucks out. They were all over us. But to tie it up quickly like that, I think that was important to kind of even out the momentum a little bit. The first period was a tough one. We knew they were going to come hard. They had a really strong 20 minutes there, but then going out in the second with the lead, it felt good. We felt confident. I felt like we played a really strong second and third. The third goal, obviously, was huge for us. But you have to win in different ways, and this is definitely a battle from the start. Then we kind of came back to basics, I felt like, especially in the second and third. Q. Brad talked before the series began just about having the holdovers from that run in 2012 and how he felt like it would really fuel the hunger to get back here, and he kind of realized you don't get these chances every year. Just how much of a sense of urgency is there in the desire to relish that opportunity? HENRIK LUNDQVIST: You're trying right now to inspire each other, and personally, it's a lot of fun to be out there. It's exciting. It's pressure. Like you said, Brad talked about it too, that you have to grab the opportunity to really do whatever you can. When I kind of sit down and collect my thoughts, my goal here is to leave it all out there. If it's going to be enough, we'll see. But you don't want to sit at the end of the year and feel like you had more to give. That's what I felt a little bit the last time we were in the Conference Final. We didn't reach our full potential, and it was extremely disappointing to end the season like that. If you go out and you play your absolute best and it's not enough, it's easier to accept. It's still tough, but at least you want to feel like you left it all out there because you don't get that many chances. That's my goal right now to really try to reach my full potential and inspire teammates and everybody that's helping us right now to kind of reach that level and see how far it takes us. Q. Your counterpart tonight, Dustin Tokarski had only played ten games in the regular season before, never in the playoffs. As a goaltender that's been through it all, what do you think that would be like for him being thrown into this? HENRIK LUNDQVIST: Well, he played well. The mental aspect is everything for a goalie. So, obviously, coming in like this, it's all about how you approach it, how you think, and he was probably in a good place because he played well. It's about not putting too much pressure on yourself. Same thing for me. You go out and you have a lot of expectations on you, but you put a lot of pressure on yourself. It's about finding the perfect place mentally where you feel like I can handle this. You want to enjoy it at the same time. It's fun to be out there, even though it's chaos at times and extremely intense. There are moments throughout the game where you really enjoy it, and there are moments where you're not sure why you're out there because it's that intense. But it's definitely a great feeling when you come together as a group and you pull off a big win like this. It's awesome. Q. To your point about wanting to leave it all on the ice, all of your teammates credited you with the win tonight, as did the Habs coach. Do you feel like you had an intimidation factor at work now, and is that precisely what you want as a competitor? HENRIK LUNDQVIST: You have to go out and earn it every game. The first two here I think we played really well for the most part. I had to make a couple saves here and there, but as a group we played really well. I don't really think about what's in their head. What is their approach. I don't really care. I try to just focus on what I have to do, really. Q. Earlier in the season when you have some of your really tough games, do you ever envision this? Do you envision the biggest games and you being the difference? HENRIK LUNDQVIST: I did (laughing). Well, I told myself things were going so bad that things are going to turn around. You have to believe in yourself. You have to believe in your teammates. It was definitely a tough stretch. One of the toughest I've had in my career, but things started turning around for me in December, I think. After that, came back to basics playing a very simple game and started getting results. But you definitely have to see yourself do well before you can do it because you have to kind of see yourself go somewhere. You know, that's what I did. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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