Henrik Lundqvist has rallied himself, but will it last?

The remark was as surprising around here as an 80-degree day in December.

Henrik Lundqvist admitted he wasn’t feeling well. Not tired, a word which doesn’t appear to be in his bi-lingual vocabulary.

After the outdoor practice in Central Park on Dec. 2 and the team’s Christmas party for families, Lundqvist fell ill and stayed in the hotel in Pittsburgh on game night. Ondrej Pavelec stepped up in a 4-3 win. Three nights later, Lundqvist was back in the net in a 4-2 loss in Washington.

After that defeat by the Capitals, Lundqvist talked about getting older and changing his sleep and eating habits and tweaking his style.

Lundqvist went 4-1-1, looked in vintage form, and then made 34 saves in a 3-2 loss to the Maple Leafs on Saturday. To be sure, his workload and his patience have been tested and the team’s most valuable player is on pace for his most starts since the 2010-11 season.

For anyone who said that at 35 Lundqvist’s window is closing, check his recent run. So far, it’s closing very, very slowly.

But the question hanging over the rest of the season is this: How much longer can he keep his game at an A-level unless the team straightens out its defensive flaws?

The goaltender himself has admitted that the schedule has been favorable: A barrelful of home games, no thousand-mile trips, only four back-to-back sets.

Here’s what’s coming up:

Of the remaining 46 games, 28 are on the road, where the Rangers are 5-7-1 — although traveling to Citi Field for the Winter Classic isn’t exactly a long journey. There’s a four-game Western U.S. trip, a three-game Western Canada trip, and two-game visits to Arizona and Las Vegas, Nashville and Dallas, and Winnipeg and Minnesota. The final four games are nearby, but all in the Metro Division.

Only 18 games are left at the Garden. Eighteen.

And there are seven back-to-back sets remaining, after just four so far. The Rangers are 4-4 in those games.

Ondrej Pavelec has to get some work. He has started just five games, and appeared in eight, with a 2-4-1 record, a 3.04 GAA and .914 save percentage.

Shaky at first, the Czech veteran appears to have turned a corner. He was outstanding against the Dallas Stars, facing 45 shots in a 2-1 shootout loss on Dec. 11, and 44 in the 4-3 win in Pittsburgh on Dec. 5.

Those were key performances, with Lundqvist’s backup showing his coaches and teammates that there still was a pro behind that Bruce Springsteen mask.

Consider this though: Lundqvist has been at the helm of the revival and can’t afford much slippage in the coming months.

After a 3-7-2 start to the season, the 6-4 defeat of the surprisingly effective Vegas Golden Knights at the Garden on Oct. 31 sparked a six-game winning streak for Lundqvist & Co.

But momentum can swing so quickly in the league these days: On Nov. 15 and 17 in Chicago and Columbus, the vibe vanished, and Lundqvist was pulled in a 6-3 loss to the Hawks, followed by a 2-0 whitewash at the hands of the Blue Jackets, the only time the Rangers been blanked all year. Suddenly, the record was 9-9-2.

It stirred memories of the shock of the 1-5-1 squad that led the Penguins 4-3 late on Oct. 17, only to have Sidney Crosby backhand a puck from a bad angle that banked in off Lundqvist’s pads with 55.3 seconds to go and then Evgeni Malkin employed the dagger, scoring 58 seconds into overtime off Ryan McDonagh’s turnover.

But by Saturday, before a match with the Maple Leafs and a three-day holiday break, they awoke to a 19-12-4 record, with 42 points in 35 games.

The mark was tantalizingly similar to Dec. 23, 2015, when the Blueshirts were 20-12-4. By the way, they reached the playoffs that season, with 101 points, in 3rd place in the division, a point ahead of the Islanders. Yep, it’s all shaping up as a race too close to call at Christmas.

The Lundqvist File

Henrik Lundqvist made his 31st start in 36 games on Saturday, and is on pace for his highest number of starts since 2010-11. Here’s his total starts in non-lockout-shortened seasons in the past 10 years.

2007-08 72

2008-09 70

2009-10 72

2010-11 67

2011-12 62

2013-14 62

2015-16 64

2016-17 55

3 on 3 HAS BEEN GLEE

The Rangers have been tied after regulation nine times this season: They are 4-1 in overtimes (1-3 in shootouts). Wonder how often they practice 3-on-3? Once every week or two, according to Vigneault. You don’t read about it because it mostly occurs early in practice before the media has access. “We use it as a quick warmup when there’s a little more room on the ice,” Vigneault said. “There are a couple set patterns we like to work on.”

HEARD AND SEEN

If you want to personally assess the team’s two first-round draft picks, Filip Chytil (Czech Republic) and Lias Andersson (Sweden), the NHL Network is televising 28 World Junior Championship games starting Tuesday, and all Team USA games live…With Jesper Fast (quad) out two to three weeks, one possible call-up as a spare is forward Peter Holland, 26, the former Leaf, who was 3-8-11 in nine games since a Nov. 30 trade for Adam Cracknell.