WASHINGTON — Henrik Lundqvist was overcome.
Seated in his locker-room stall following Sunday afternoon’s 6-5 overtime defeat to the Capitals in a match the Blueshirts had tied at 19:29 of the third after pulling the netminder for an extra attacker, Lundqvist coolly analyzed his deficiencies and praised his team’s gumption.
But then came the question about the Saturday night trade of his dear friend, Mats Zuccarello, to Dallas. There was no cool. There was no façade. There was, simply, emotion that could have been mistaken for grief.
Lundqvist paused. He tried to collect himself.