Brad Richards not only delivered the play of the night, scoring on a gorgeous Artem Anisimov feed at 2:37 of overtime to lift the Rangers to a 4-3 victory over the Lightning at Madison Square Garden, the Big Moment Kid also delivered the thought of the night in assessing Dominic Moore’s brutal shoulder to Ruslan Fedotenko’s head that almost certainly concussed the winger.
“I’m pretty sure that’s what we’re trying not to do to each other,” Richards, who has seven game-winning goals, said after the Rangers had rallied from 3-2 down after two on Brian Boyle’s score at 10:13 of the third. “It’s us doing it to each other.
“If we want to keep doing that to each other it’s going to keep causing problems. It’s idiotic.”
Hits to the head, slew-footing, they were all part of last night’s match that was at times static, at times mean, at times thrilling while also featuring — wait for it — a Rangers power-play goal.
Moore, who received just a two-minute minor for his transgression but should expect a call from NHL VP Brendan Shanahan, got his shoulder up as Fedotenko was moving in behind him at the Rangers’ left defensive circle. Fedotenko went down and stayed down before being helped off by trainer Jim Ramsay.
The hit came just seconds after Fedotenko, who did not return, had nailed Moore against the boards on the opposite side of the rink.
“There was no puck there, Feds had just hit him and it looked like [Moore] was looking for him,” said Brandon Prust, victim of an uncalled Victor Hedman slew-foot four minutes into the second. “There was no puck there and a lot of head contact, [but] we’ll let the league decide on the response.”
Coach John Tortorella, irate when only a minor was called and visibly furious over the officiating of Gord Dwyer and Brad Watson much of the night, refused comment on the play.
When told, however, that his players were upset, Tortorella said, “They should be.”
Boyle was certainly upset, calling the hit, “garbage,” and saying that Moore “should take a look in the mirror.”
As Shanahan takes a look at the tape, the Rangers almost certainly will have to recall a wing from the AHL Whale for tomorrow’s match in Philadelphia. Wojtek Wolski, in Connecticut on a conditioning assignment, is the most likely candidate.
The team was not at its sharpest, and neither was Martin Biron, but the group and the goaltender got the job done. Biron, who faced just 17 shots, was erratic, but he made a pair of sensational saves against Steven Stamkos at the right doorstep with 5:45 to go in the third to keep it tied at 3-3.
If the Rangers never yielded after falling behind 1-0 in the first and 3-2 in the second, neither has Richards yielded to frustration.
Dropped to a fourth-line while mired in a stretch in which he had recorded three points (one goal, two assists) in the previous 12 games and partially culpable for a power play that had gone 0-for-17 and 1-for-34 (and 0-for-35 in five-on-four situations), Richards’ approach never wavered.
“He’s very professional,” Henrik Lundqvist told The Post. “He’s been the same guy in the room, providing the same leadership, preparing for every game the same way.”
Last night, after finishing it, Richards acknowledged that he has much work to do.
“I’m not anywhere near where I want to be,” No. 19 said. “But at least tonight I’ll be able to get some sleep.”
While Shanahan sleeps on what to do about Moore.