This is the Henrik Lundqvist the Rangers wanted to see

This was quite a bit better for Henrik Lundqvist.

The Rangers’ franchise netminder bounced back in his second preseason performance, stopping 14-of-15 shots over two periods in his team’s 4-3 overtime win over the Devils on Monday night at the Garden. It was a very different scenario than in his first preseason action, when he gave up five goals on 22 shots against the Flyers on Wednesday.

“I felt a lot better, more comfortable,” Lundqvist said. “We talked about it after the first game — you need a couple games to get good feedback.”

The 36-year-old Lundqvist said he made some adjustments in the past few days, and had three consecutive good practices to get the confidence going.

“It’s just playing my game,” Lundqvist said. “There are a couple things I need to be strong on, and it’s playing deep and making good reads. … It was too much movement, and sometimes you want to do too much, especially early on, when you’re looking for that good feeling. Really, it’s just back to basics.”

As for the hotly debated topic of how many games Lundqvist might play this year, first-year coach David Quinn chose not to put a specific number on it.

“He and I have talked about it. I asked him that question and he said he didn’t want to put a number to it and I said, ‘Neither do I,’ so we’re both on the same page there,” Quinn said. “To me, it’s game-by-game, reading the situation, how the second guy is playing — maybe I want to get him a game or two there. There is a lot that goes into it.”

The battle for the backup job has seemingly come down to Alexandar Georgiev and Marek Mazanec, the latter replacing Lundqvist for the third period and giving up two goals on 11 shots. Dustin Tokarski, who was signed as a free agent this summer, has not had the best camp thus far.

“We’ll find out an awful lot about the situation in our last two [preseason] games,” Quinn said.

Integral winger Jesper Fast left the game late in the second period and did not return due to what Quinn called “precautionary reasons. He should be fine.”

Winger Matt Beleskey did not return to the game after he got into a first-period fight with Eric Gryba — the first of two fights on the night for the Devils defenseman on a tryout.

Quinn said that Beleskey has “a shoulder issue, and we’ll still wait and see what his situation is.”

Asked if it might be long-term with Beleskey, Quinn said, “I don’t think so, but it’s too early to tell.”

The club is still keeping two full groups, necessary as Monday started a stretch of three games in four nights. But by the preseason finale, on Thursday night Philadelphia, Quinn said they’re pretty much going to know their team.

Quinn has run an intense training camp, and as for when he might scale it back, he had an idea.

“The practices will be shorter for sure, but this is a competitive sport. I know we’re doing some battle drills, but I’m assuming when we play Jersey [Monday], they’re going to come and battle,” he said. “So you’ve got to be ready for that. It doesn’t mean every drill is going to have that in it, but you can’t lose sight of that. You have to get that established early and have that mindset, and then back off as the season goes on.”

When it comes to balancing the practice schedule with the game schedule, Quinn is planning on reading his team and doing what he feels is necessary to prepare.

“You just have to know your team,” he said. “You have to have constant communication with them, you have to read their body language, you have to read their eyes. You just have to know.

“I fully understand the value of rest, and we’re going to get plenty of it. But when we go, we’re going to go.”