King bounces back by going back to basics

This was quite a bit better for Henrik Lundqvist.

The Rangers’ franchise netminder bounced back in his second preseason performance, stopping 14-of-15 shots over two periods in his team’s 4-3 overtime win over the Devils on Monday night at the Garden. It was a very different scenario than in his first preseason action, when he gave up five goals on 22 shots against the Flyers on Wednesday.

“I felt a lot better, more comfortable,” Lundqvist said. “We talked about it after the first game — you need a couple games to get good feedback.”

The 36-year-old Lundqvist said he made some adjustments in the past few days, and had three consecutive good practices to get the confidence going.

“It’s just playing my game,” Lundqvist said. “There are a couple things I need to be strong on, and it’s playing deep and making good reads. ... It was too much movement, and sometimes you want to do too much, especially early on, when you’re looking for that good feeling. Really, it’s just back to basics.”

As for the hotly debated topic of how many games Lundqvist might play this year, first-year coach David Quinn chose not to put a specific number on it.

“He and I have talked about it. I asked him that question and he said he didn’t want to put a number to it and I said, ‘Neither do I,’ so we’re both on the same page there,” Quinn said. “To me, it’s game-by-game, reading the situation, how the second guy is playing — maybe I want to get him a game or two there. There is a lot that goes into it.”

The battle for the backup job has seemingly come down to Alexandar

Georgiev and Marek Mazanec, the latter replacing Lundqvist for the third period and giving up two goals on 11 shots. Dustin Tokarski, who was signed as a free agent this summer, has not had the best camp thus far.

Integral winger Jesper Fast left the game late in the second period and did not return due to what Quinn called “precautionary reasons. He should be fine.”

Winger Matt Beleskey did not return to the game after he got into a first-period fight with Eric Gryba — the first of two fights on the night for the Devils defenseman on a tryout.

Quinn said that Beleskey has “a shoulder issue, and we’ll still wait and see what his situation is.”

Asked if it might be long-term with Beleskey, Quinn said, “I don’t think so, but it’s too early to tell.”