Kessel keeps Lundqvist on his toes

Enjoying the playoff season

It may come from the corner, the blue line, the faceoff dot.

That’s the aspect of Phil Kessel’s game that always keeps New York Rangers’ future Hall of Fame goalie Henrik Lundqvist on his toes — because of his speed, you just never know when and where a puck is going to suddenly be rocketing in your direction, courtesy of that patented quick release.

While Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin obviously will warrant the most attention from the Rangers defence in Game 3 of their first-round best-of-seven series on Tuesday, Lundqvist and his teammates found out first-hand in Game 2 just how lethal Kessel can be upon locating open ice.

Before he knew it, Lundqvist twice was fishing pucks out of the back of his net, courtesy of Kessel, who scored Pittsburgh’s only two goals in a 4-2 loss to the Rangers Saturday.

As such, King Henrik understands just how much of a weapon Kessel could potentially be for Pittsburgh in this series.

“The biggest thing is his skating,” Lundqvist said, breaking down Kessel’s strength’s to Postmedia.

“He likes to use it and catch you off-guard, see if you are leaning the wrong way. Sometimes he’ll shoot quickly from pretty much anywhere just to see if you are paying complete attention. And with his quick release, you have to be.”

Entering play Saturday, Kessel had not scored in the NHL playoffs since May 13, 2013, the date of the Maple Leafs’ epic Game 7 collapse to the Boston Bruins.

“He likes to skate on his off-wing sometimes and get you off-balance,” Rangers defenceman Kevin Klein said. “He can be tough to handle.”

For Kessel, it’s just a chance to enjoy his first taste of the post-season in three years.

“Playoffs are just a different feel,” he said.

“I don’t know how to explain it. As players, it’s another level.” NOTES: With Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff beaten four times in the Game 2 loss, both Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray joined him at practice Monday.

Fleury has been sidelined for three weeks after suffering a concussion while Murray had previously not been out on the ice since getting his bell rung during the Penguins’ season finale against the Philadelphia Flyers.

“To me it’s frustrating to not play and still be talking about it,” Fleury said. “It’s tough. It feels like forever.”

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, who continues to say Fleury is “day to day,” was impressed with Murray’s workout.

“(I) really liked what I saw,” Sullivan said. “I thought he was sharp, he was tracking pucks well. I thought he had a real good practice.”