Beloved Rangers great Henrik Lundqvist says fans approach him almost every day in New York City — but don’t crowd him.
“It makes me feel comfortable. You know, they give you your space, which is one of the big reasons why I love living in New York City,” the retired goaltender told The Post ahead of the Rangers’ attempt to sweep the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of their second-round series Saturday night.
“You want to play in a place where people care, and they’re excited about hockey and the team. But at the same time, they allow you to live a pretty normal life.
“They acknowledge you on the street, but they move on,” said the Hall of Fame goalie and subject of the new Neflix documentary, “Open Heart.”
“You might give them the thumbs up and you keep walking. That’s New York for you and I love it.”
The documentary, which debuts May 17, chronicles the Swedish native’s quick rise to fame in the Big Apple, where he played for the Rangers for 15 years.
When the team brought on younger goalies in an effort to rebuild, he signed with the Washington Capitals in hopes of earning his first Stanley Cup, but a heart diagnosis abruptly ended his career.
Lundqvist, 42, explained that he was aware that he had a leaky valve in his heart, but didn’t realize its extent until he got the physical required when you start with a new team.
Viewers can listen to the actual audio of the phone call he got from his doctor, who advised him against playing after the surgery that was required to repair his valve and aorta.
“It’s definitely a phone call I’ll never forget,” he recalled.
He thought he could defy the doctors and return to the rink — and the film was originally conceived as a comeback story.
“I love the game so much . . . and I was so hungry to prove that I could play well.”
But he suffered setbacks with inflammation around this heart, leading to his retirement.
The dad of two daughters, 11 and 9, said bringing his wife and children back to the Garden for his jersey retirement in 2022 was “a big moment,” especially since his final game there was during the pandemic.
“I played my last Rangers game in a bubble playoff in 2020, and it was just a very strange way to go out,” said Lundqvist, who is also a fashion icon, and was once named Most Stylish Athlete at New York Fashion Week’s Style Awards.
“It really felt like there was something missing in my heart. So to have that one last moment with the fans and after so many years, it really felt like closure.”
Lundqvist, who is now an analyst at MSG Networks and TNT, didn’t give his playoff predictions, but said, “this is the best time of the year in my opinion … springtime and playoff hockey.”
In the documentary, he also speaks about being named “King Henrik” early on in his rookie year by Post reporter Larry Brooks.
“You know, when it started to happen, you definitely think it’s going to go away. But it really didn’t,” he said.
“King is a very hard nickname to live up to always. So I try to just have fun with it.”
