The Rangers were 3-1 in elimination games during last year’s playoffs, defeating the Senators in Games 6 and 7 in the opening round and beating the Capitals in Game 7 of the second round before succumbing to the Devils in an overtime Game 6 of the conference finals.
They will get their first opportunity to avoid 2013 extinction in this afternoon’s Game 6 at the Garden against the Capitals, trailing 3-2 in a series in which the home teams have won the first five matches.
“I think the guys here who went through it will benefit from the experience,” Derek Stepan told The Post Saturday. “It’s a different circumstance, a different year, but for myself, I know I learned how to handle some of the emotions that go into a game like this.
“You have to stay in the moment.”
Stepan was asked if he had confidence the Blueshirts could force a Game 7 Monday night in D.C.
“Absolutely,” he said.
*** Chris Kreider is the most logical candidate to join the lineup in place of Ryane Clowe, who all but certainly sustained his second concussion in 16 days at 4:40 of Game 5’s first period when his head rattled off the glass on a Jason Chimera check for which the Washington winger was assessed a boarding penalty.
Clowe, who had just returned for Game 4 after being sidelined with a believed concussion he sustained in Carolina on March 25, took one more brief shift before leaving the game.
Kreider played 8:23 in Game 1 of this series before sitting out the next four as a healthy scratch. Coach John Tortorella yesterday said, “We’ll try to find the best player we can [to replace Clowe].”
Darroll Powe also was concussed in the series on a Game 3 elbow from Joel Ward.
**Henrik Lundqvist, scheduled to make his 60th consecutive playoff start for Rangers since backing up Kevin Weekes in Game 2 of the 2006 first-round sweep by the Devils, is 4-6 when facing elimination and 27-33 overall in the postseason.
Lundqvist said he had put Friday night’s 2-1 overtime Game 5 loss behind him by the time the team’s charter touched down in New York a couple of hours after the match.
“I talked to [backup goalie] Marty [Biron], and that helped a lot because he understands me,” Lundqvist said. “If you feel you are doing the right things, you go over it in your head and then you move on. Today was all about tomorrow.”
The home team is 5-for-19 on power play, scoring one goal in each match, while the visiting team is 0-for-16. … The Rangers have not been eliminated from playoff series at Garden since losing 2007 second round in six games to Sabres.