GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Henrik Lundqvist had his game-day face on at practice.

He still smiled and answered all the questions thrown at him Monday about the Los Angeles Kings — the New York Rangers’ long-awaited opponent in the Stanley Cup finals.

“Exciting. Long flight,” the star goalie said Monday before he and his teammates headed to California for New York’s first appearance in the finals since winning the title in 1994. “East Coast-West Coast. I’ll look forward to this matchup.”

If there wasn’t already enough pressure on Lundqvist to lead his team to the championship, he is now part of the hype machine heading into Game 1 on Wednesday.

Headlines are screaming: “King Henrik vs. the Kings.”

“Clever,” he said with a slight laugh.

The Rangers have been waiting since Thursday to find out if they would face the 2012 Stanley Cup-winning Kings or the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the finals.

They took two days off before returning to practice on Sunday. Most of the players said they watched at least part of Los Angeles’ third road Game 7 win of this playoff year that night.

So practice on Monday had a bit more focus for the Rangers as they knew exactly who was standing in their way next.

“Any team you play at this time of year is a good hockey team, especially a team that has kind of been around the playoffs and the Stanley Cup finals a couple of times in the last few years,” forward Derek Stepan said.