Henrik Lundqvist wanted to 'pay back' the Blackhawks.

While the New York Rangers were stuck waiting for the Chicago Blackhawks' Stanley Cup banner-raising ceremony to end on Wednesday night, Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was just biding his time.

“We were sitting in here, delayed, and maybe I was a little upset and wanted to go out there and pay them back,” Lundqvist told Larry Brooks of the New York Post after stopping 32 shots in a 3-2 victory over Chicago in the season opener.

"I was wondering who had the tougher challenge,” the netminder said. “Us sitting in here for 45 minutes or them being out there for a very emotional ceremony with the flag going up?"

The Rangers came out guns blazing after the ceremony, and managed to score all three of their goals in the first period, with Oscar Lindberg opening the scoring less than two minutes into the opening frame.

“There was a lot of talk in here during the ceremony so we wouldn’t get stale,” Rangers defenseman Keith Yandle said. “You don’t really know how you’re going to react to that long of a delay, but we went out there pretty fired up and played our best period.”

Teuvo Teravainen's second-period goal got the Blackhawks to within a goal, but Chicago was unable to complete the comeback.

"They kept coming back at us, but you had to expect that," Lundqvist said. "They have so much talent. I thought we did an incredible job getting into lanes and reading plays.”

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Images Courtesy of Keystone Press