Five Questions with Henrik Lundqvist

NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Five Questions With …" runs every Tuesday. We talk to key figures in the game and ask them questions to gain insight into their lives, careers and the latest news.
The latest edition features New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist:

Henrik Lundqvist didn't look or play like the oldest guy at 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend.
The New York Rangers goalie, who turns 37 on March 2, won the Ticketmaster Save Streak on Friday by making 12 consecutive saves, and helped the Metropolitan Division win the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game by making 11 saves on 13 shots in 20 minutes.
"You could see how competitive he is," Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said.
Lundqvist, in his 14th NHL season, remains as competitive and driven as ever. He hasn't reached his ultimate goal, winning the Stanley Cup, and knows he's further away from getting that opportunity now than perhaps he ever has been because the Rangers are rebuilding.

They sit nine points out of the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with 34 games to play. The 2019 NHL Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET on Feb. 25) looms large and the Rangers could be major players in it as sellers.
Lundqvist, who moved into sixth place all time with his 446th NHL win on Jan. 19 against the Boston Bruins, talked about all of that and more in a 1-on-1 with NHL.com prior to the All-Star Game on Saturday.
Here are Five Questions with...Henrik Lundqvist:
You said something at Media Day on Friday that caught my attention. You were talking about playing for one team and the appreciation you have for that. A year ago, the Rangers announced a rebuild and I think you're aware that many people at the time were wondering what Henrik thinks about it and if he will want to stay. So what does it mean for you to play for one team and to finish your career with one team? Why is that so important to you?
"It's not so much the fact that it's super important to play for one team, it's what I feel for the Rangers. That's what makes it. It's hard to explain. You know, when I grew up I had one favorite team, and it was Frolunda in Sweden. My dream was one day to play there. I did and won two championships and it was like a dream come true. To be honest, I never thought I would have the same feeling for another club ever in my career, and now 14 years into my career, I have the same love and passion for this organization that I had for Frolunda growing up. These two organizations have meant a lot to me throughout my career. It's kind of hard to describe, but that's the way I feel. You kind of have to live it.

"And it's not only the fact that you've been in the one place for so long, it's also what they've done for me personally, giving me that opportunity. A lot of these people that work for the organization too, I grew up having them as my colleagues, everybody working at the office or around the team. It's very special. The big dream is still to one day win the last game of the year and to do that with the Rangers. That's still my biggest dream and motivation. Will it happen? I don't know. But I use it as motivation and inspiration."
What do you think about what your team has accomplished this season so far in the context of being realistic about what the expectations were?
"I think it was really hard to know what to expect. I think we've been on both sides this year where we're playing better than I expected and there's moments where I feel like, yeah, it's going to take some time for us to get to the level we need to be at. But overall, I still believe that there's a chance for us to get into the hunt. We need to get hot here, continue to win to climb back into the race. I think that's important for us to be in the race, to fight and play important games, not only for now and trying to get in but even moreso for next year to learn and to feel that pressure and go into every game feeling that importance of every play matters so you don't get used to playing with no fear. I think it's important that you learn how to play with that."
You talked the other day about Mats Zuccarello and your hope that he doesn't get traded. Does that, the trade deadline, all that stuff now enter your mind, make you think that the team we have now might look different than the team we have a month from now and there's nothing you can do about it really? It's certainly a possibility.
"There's so many things you can start thinking about and then you realize it's out of your control so why put too much into it. There's a lot of work to be done so try to focus on that. Every year something is happening, but it's just different. A lot of years it was what do we do to get better right now to try to win? Now it's a little different, but there's no point in trying to figure out what's going to happen. We're going to play, we're going to focus on that, and then we'll see."

What have you thought of your play, your season to date?
"I'm most happy with the fact that I'm more committed this year to playing my game and that's playing deep and being patient. I think I've been playing my style, and that's been satisfying moreso this year than the last two years. Physically, mentally, technically I feel pretty good, so, overall, I'm happy but at the same time it's hard to be really satisfied if you're not on the right side of playoff race, on the inside. Of course, you're going to have games here and there that aren't good enough, it happens, but overall I think it's a pretty good year."
The Rangers won three straight going into the break. How does that impact the feeling in the room before you take the ice to play the Flyers on Tuesday, especially since it's been 10 days between games?
"Every time you go on a winning streak you use that to know you're doing the right things here so continue doing it. When you come back from a break the first thing is don't think so much, just get your legs going, your brain going, work hard the first practice and try to come back to the game mode you haven't had for a week. That's the most important thing then thinking about how we did the last few games, win or lose. It's most important to just get the legs going, get the brain going, get your mind in the right place. It's good to know the last three we did a lot of good things and we can try to continue to build on that, but at the same time it is a restart. But hopefully we thought about it during the break, all of us, like 'OK, why did we have success and what do we need to do to continue that?'"