WASHINGTON — Henrik Lundqvist was overcome.
Seated in his locker-room stall following Sunday afternoon’s 6-5 overtime defeat to the Capitals in a match the Blueshirts had tied at 19:29 of the third after pulling the netminder for an extra attacker, Lundqvist coolly analyzed his deficiencies and praised his team’s gumption.
But then came the question about the Saturday night trade of his dear friend, Mats Zuccarello, to Dallas. There was no cool. There was no façade. There was, simply, emotion that could have been mistaken for grief.
Lundqvist paused. He tried to collect himself. His lips were twitching. In 14 years, the only thing that had come close to this was the aftermath of the crushing Game 5 double-overtime elimination loss to the Kings in the 2014 Cup final when he had wept in his stall, equipment on for nearly a half hour after the ride had ended.
Somehow, though, this seemed worse. On Thursday, Lundqvist had talked about his relationship with Zuccarello. But he also told The Post he did not want to think about how he might react to a trade until it became necessary. Saturday night, that became necessary.
But now, after posting an Instagram/Twitter tribute to his little buddy, Lundqvist could not find the words. This was anything but the debonair King.
“It’s tough,” he managed to whisper, all but trembling, and trying to collect himself. He managed to say,
“A friend …” but then he stopped. He could not continue.
“I can’t …”
Zuccarello, who first joined forces with Lundqvist in 2010, is gone from the Rangers. Kevin Hayes, a Ranger since 2015, will be gone by 3 p.m. Monday, with multiple teams interested in renting No. 13. Adam McQuaid will be dealt, too. They probably won’t be the only ones, not with Vlad Namestnikov having increased his value through this last week.
“I kept hoping every day that all the [rumored] deals would fall through and we could keep everyone,” Mika Zibanejad said after his team rallied from both 3-1 and 5-3 down to knot it on Brady Skjei’s long one before Evgeny Kuznetsov slid home the winner on a scramble at 4:20 of OT.
“These are the guys you want with you in the locker and want to win with.”
Yes, but the Rangers had won 26 of their 60 games before Zuccarello, Hayes and McQuaid were scratched beginning with Saturday’s Garden victory over the Devils. The Blueshirts could not stand pat.
“We’ve talked about it for a while now,” David Quinn said when asked about Zuccarello. “He’s a special player and as I have found out through my time here, a special person.
“But that said, this is pro sports and you focus on the guys here. You can feel sorry for yourself, but if it continues, the strikes aren’t going to be ‘two’ but ‘four.’
“I think we did a good job of not letting it snowball.”
There’s Monday to survive. Marc Staal asked after the game whether any moves had been made while the team had been on the ice. It is impossible to say who will answer roll call at Tuesday’s practice.
Zibanejad isn’t going to be glued to his phone waiting for alerts.
“I probably think it’s best thing for me to try to get away from it,” No. 93 said.
Sounds like a plan that Lundqvist is likely to follow as well.