NEWARK, N.J. — Henrik Lundqvist sat in his corner stall in the visitor's locker room after his first preseason game with a smile on his face.
"It was fun to be out there and play again," he told reporters.
But, while the Rangers goaltender was excited to be back between the pipes and entered the contest looking for feedback, he may have gotten a little bit more than he bargained for.
In 30 minutes and 20 seconds of action, he faced 24 shots. It also probably didn't help that the very first shot he faced was something he was not expecting; just 34 seconds into the contest he had what he called "a welcome back moment" — an 18-year-old Jack Hughes bearing down on a breakaway and going five-hole.
"He looked good, he's a good player," noted the 37-year-old goalie, adding with a smile and a laugh, "I wish I maybe had a couple shots before I faced him on a breakaway the first time, but it's preseason, so I give that one to him."
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Over the course of his 857 regular-season games, Lundqvist has faced on average 29 shots per game. So with a Rangers' lineup filled with young, inexperienced players, and a Devils team showcasing the likes of Hughes, Tyler Hall and P.K. Subban, Lundqvist was able to see a full game of shots in half the time.
Among the 14 shots he faced in the first period, there was a 47-foot shot from Michael McLeod he knocked away with the blocker, a wrist shot from Kyle Palmieri from the bottom of the right circle while shorthanded and a 31-foot shot from a streaking Hughes down the left wing that he kicked out with his left leg.
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He also saw two shots that beat him high glove side: a power-play goal by Hall from the left circle and one late in the first by Blake Coleman. There was a big difference between the two, however. Lundqvist could see Hall's shot; Coleman's was screened by defenseman Mason Geertsen as the Devils' center flipped the puck from his backhand to his forehand in the left circle and fired the puck on net.
"I was kind of leaning towards my right," Lundqvist said. "When you play with new defensemen you try to talk and figure out what side they're blocking, and that's why you have preseason games. Yeah, when it went by it was too late. But again, I'm happy with all the action that I saw for 30 minutes so I get a lot of feedback and watch video like this and try to improve on things."
For Lundqvist, the 4-2 score was irrelevant. This was more about getting the timing and reads down and the feedback that would come after from the video sessions. He and head coach David Quinn did discuss postgame how Lundqvist controlled the bounces, played better and felt more comfortable as the game wore on.
He did stop all 10 shots he faced in the second period — a good omen considering the Rangers' first regular-season game looms just 12 days ahead.