Lundqvist still trying to find his rhythm

Swedish netminder gave up five goals in his final World Cup tune-up

It probably isn’t a good thing for Sweden’s opponents to have superstar goalie Henrik Lundqvist in a bad mood entering the World Cup of Hockey.

The New York Rangers goalie was certainly testy after allowing five goals to Europe in Sweden’s final tune-up game, a 6-2 loss.

But he is the one player the team’s coaches least worry about.

“Henrik is such an experienced goalie,” Sweden coach Rikard Gronborg said Thursday at the Air Canada Centre.

“He’s gone through adversity before, he’s risen through adversity, and it’s the same for our team now.

“For me as a coach, I look at why we gave up so many odd man rushes (against Europe). I know Henrik will excel when we need him, that’s why he’s a world-class goalie.”

Lundqvist admitted he was mad after he was pulled from the game, having given up an uncharacteristic five goals on 22 shots.

He was playing just his second pretournament game after sitting out Sweden’s exhibition opener, in part to allow his body to get up to speed after he took a puck to the ribs during a workout.

The Swedes, silver medallists at the Sochi Olympics, didn’t exactly perform well in front of him.

“I think he’s fine,” defenceman Erik Karlsson said.

“He’s trying to find his rhythm, we’re trying to find our rhythm as a team . . . we weren’t playing our system in front of him the way we were supposed to. We were trying to do too much and that will happen when you start playing games again after having the summer off.

“We put him in a situation he shouldn’t be in, at least for seven or eight times in one game.

“The unfortunate thing is when this happens, goalies are the ones who stand alone.”

Lundqvist, who stopped a penalty shot and a breakaway, slammed his stick on the ice at one point in frustration.

“You play two games, things like that happen, so yeah, you should feel upset,” Lundqvist said.

“It’s a big tournament, you give up five goals, so you’re not happy with that, for sure. There’s time for me to pick things up personally.”

Lundqvist is looking to rebound from an early exit in the NHL playoffs in the spring, when the Rangers lost to Pittsburgh in the first round.

“It was a tough ending to last year, but the thing about it was the number of shots I faced, the number of quality chances I faced,” said Lundqvist.

At the age of 34 he faced an NHLleading 1,944 shots last season.

Hestill posted a .609 quality-start percentage (the league average is .530).

“This year, you start over. After this tournament, you go back to New York, you see new faces, you learn from last year, and you move on.” Sweden opens the World Cup on Sunday afternoon against Russia. For Lundqvist, it’s a renewal of a now classic matchup with sniper Alex Ovechkin.

“We have faced each other so many times over the years now, it’s like when we go to Washington, it creates a special atmosphere,” Lundqvist said.