NHL

Lundqvist: No problem with Vigneault

Forget any goaltender-coach feud with the Rangers.

Henrik Lundqvist said he had “no problem” with coach Alain Vigneault describing the second goal in the Devils’ 3-2 win Tuesday night as a “routine save” to the media following the Rangers’ loss.

“It’s a shot I need to stop, especially at the end of the period it’s a big goal,” Lundqvist said of Ryan Carter’s second-period goal. “It was bad-angle shot. Even though it’s a backhand shot I said is hard to read, I need to play it better.”

Lundqvist, however, said that’s not why the Rangers fell to their Hudson River rivals. Rather, he said it was a defensive breakdown, which led to Dainius Zubrus’ game-winner with 2:55 remaining that was the difference, though Zubrus’ goal from the slot came following a deflection off defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi.

“I battled back, we battled back as a team, and we showed some character,” Lundqvist said. “[The breakdown is] what cost us the game.”

Defenseman Marc Staal defended Lundqvist, pointing to his exceptional play otherwise.

“Sub that one out for the 10 great saves that he made that should’ve went in,” Staal said.

Lundqvist didn’t mind the criticism, but also seemed to say he would like it spread among his teammates when he said “it should go for all of us.

“Sometimes, I feel like you can hide behind the team, say ‘We, we, we,’ but at some point you have to be honest with yourself,” he said. “Obviously, being a goalie it’s easier to just look at the guy’s performance every night, but I definitely don’t have a problem with that.

“That’s the world I live in as a goalie. You can make 20 good things and one bad thing, and you only talk about the bad thing out there. At the same time, I can have games where I make a mistakes, but we still win and people think I played really well. That’s my world, that’s a goalie’s world, you just have to accept it.”

It hasn’t been the smoothest of starts for The King, who began the year by getting rocked in allowing four or more goals in three of his first four starts, then missed two games with a minor undisclosed ailment and is now being questioned by his new coach. Lundqvist has played better since returning from the injury, resembling the Garden fan favorite and elite goaltender who won the Vezina Trophy two years ago.

It’s unclear if he will be in net Saturday when the Rangers visit Montreal’s Bell Centre, a house of horrors for the netminder over the years.

Vigneault said he’s aware of Lundqvist’s struggles north of the border, but also noted the past won’t factor into his decision. He hinted he would split up this weekend’s back-to-back tilts — the Rangers are back at the Garden on Sunday night against the Kings — between Lundqvist and backup Cam Talbot, yet he hasn’t told them his plans yet.

“Whatever happened last year, two years ago, five years ago, seven years ago, has absolutely no relevance towards that game that’s going to be played Saturday night,” Vigneault said.