Adam Henrique officially ended the 2012 Rangers’ quest for the Stanley Cup by scoring in overtime of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in New Jersey, but the Blueshirts more likely than not lost their best chance at taking the chalice by losing Game 2 of the first round at home to Ottawa … or Games 2 and 4 of the second round to Washington.
For dropping those games prevented the Rangers from taking two-game leads each time, and ultimately forced them into a pair of exhausting seven-game series that eventually took their toll against the Devils.
“There is a lesson to be learned from that,” Brad Richards said earlier this week. “When you have a chance to get a good grip on a series, you can’t afford to let it slip away because more times than not, it costs you.
“Veteran teams take advantage of their opportunities. Veteran teams close the door. I think this is a more veteran team than that one.”
The Rangers closed the door on the Flyers in Thursday’s Game 1, limiting Philadelphia to 15 shots, including one in the third period during which Richards played the role of Maestro in orchestrating a three-goal outburst in the 4-1 victory.
Sunday afternoon, the Blueshirts go for the two-game lead they could never get two years ago against Ottawa or Washington, or for that matter, against the Devils, going 0-7 in those situations.
Indeed, the Rangers haven’t held a two-game lead in a playoff series since the 2009 first round, when 2-0 and 3-1 advantages slipped away like liquid through a water bottle nozzle in a seven-game defeat to the Caps.
“We’ve had a lot of Game 7s, but maybe some of those could have been avoided if we’d been more consistent with our effort before that,” Henrik Lundqvist told The Post following Friday’s optional practice in which he, Cam Talbot and seven skaters participated. “This next game is an opportunity for us to put ourselves in a better situation, but so is every game.
“I think that’s the message. You can’t afford any games where you don’t put forth your best effort,” said The King, who went 3-0 in Game 7s the last two years and is a lifetime 3-1 in winner-take-all matchups. “You don’t want to be emotionally up and down all the time. That’s risky.”
So now Flyers coach Craig Berube is going to have his team revert to its season-long style of carrying the puck into the Rangers’ zone after Thursday’s misguided game plan that featured chip-and-chase hockey basically blew up in their faces.
Regardless, it is imperative the Rangers seize this moment to not only grab an immediate two-game advantage in the series, but to send the Flyers back to Philadelphia riddled with doubt for Tuesday’s Game 3, seeking a third way to play.
It is imperative the Rangers chow down on a full helping of killer instinct for breakfast before Sunday’s noon faceoff. This is more than about just holding serve. It is about establishing and reinforcing superiority.
“I can think back to a few series over the years where we didn’t reach our full potential,” said Lundqvist, who has started 67 straight playoff games for the Blueshirts since Kevin Weekes got the call in Game 2 of the 2006 first-round sweep by the Devils. “Those are painful to think about.
“It’s always difficult when you lose, but it’s really tough to swallow when you know you didn’t give your best effort every single game. When you’re younger you think there are always going to be opportunities, but the more you play the more you realize that you don’t know how many chances you’re going to get, and going to get with a real good team.”
No goaltender in NHL history has ever won his first Stanley Cup with his original team as late in his career as Lundqvist would if he wins one with the Rangers. Charlie Gardiner won in his seventh season with the Blackhawks in 1934. Eddie Johnston won in his eighth season with Boston in 1970 as the backup to Gerry Cheevers. Lundqvist is in his ninth season on Broadway.
“If you reach your full potential by giving your all mentally and physically; if your preparation is 100 percent, and you still lose, it’s hard but you can live with it,” Lundqvist said. “That has to be your mindset for every game.
“That’s our mindset here. ‘No Regrets.’ ”