NHL

Comeback expert Messier: Rangers need ‘seek-and-destroy attitude’

The question for Mark Messier now, as Game 3 against the Kings arrives Monday night at the Garden:

You think the Rangers can still win this?

“No question. There’s no question they can still win it,” Messier told The Post. “There’s no question they can. Whether they will or not, will remain to be determined, but watching the game from the outside as a fan, if I’m sitting on the plane, I’m disappointed we’re down two because we had our opportunities, but I would be pretty encouraged once the disappointment of losing a double overtime wanes …

“If I was the Rangers coming home on that plane [Sunday] and talking to each other, I wouldn’t be dejected one bit. I would be more inspired and more determined than ever because of the opportunity that awaits.”

It is an opportunity Messier knows must be seized with what he calls a “seek-and-destroy attitude.”

“The thing that you don’t want to get into is a lot of reminiscing … you don’t want to get into where you’re talking about how you got here,” he began. “Now’s the time to put all that aside and get a seek-and-destroy attitude and take no prisoners. Time for reflection will come after the series and not to lose sight of the fact that you’re in quite a battle, and that edge, and that destroying edge needs to be there right now.

“It’s easy to get fuzzy and cozy about where you are, and how you got here, and pat yourself on the back or each other on the back and lose sight of the fact that there’s still a lot of hockey left to go, and that you have to become a closer.”

The Rangers cannot let the Kings grab a 3-0 series lead.

“I don’t remember who coined the [saying] ‘The series doesn’t start ’til someone wins a road game,’ but in a lot of ways it’s true,” Messier said.

“In my experience, I always looked at the third game as being a pivotal game, just for the psyche of the series. If you’re down two games, you win the third, you’re back in with momentum. If you’re 1-1, you won the third game, you’re two wins away, so psychologically you’re feeling good. If you’re up two, and you won that Game 3, you got a stranglehold on the series there. No matter if I was up two, down two, 1-1, whatever it was, I always looked at the Game 3 as the most important, the most pivotal, strategic game of any seven-game series. Of course, after Game 3, then Game 4 (laugh) is the next pivotal one, but Game 3 in my mind has always been the biggest.”

Martin St. Louis (center) gathers the Rangers after a goal in Game 2.Reuters

Will Rangers fans keep the faith?

“Well, there’s no question the Ranger fans are gonna keep the faith,” Messier said. “They kept the faith 54 years until we were able to win in 1994, so 20 years later is not gonna change the faith. That we are assured of.”

The Rangers need to get the Seventh Man rocking inside the Garden.

“I always said being at home and your familiar surroundings and your routine and all that is part of the thing that kinda really makes you settled and comforted going into a game — and a big game,” Messier said. “And you have to be able to keep a level head when the pace gets to that frantic, crazy pace. You don’t have to execute perfectly for 60 minutes, but you have to execute correctly and perfectly for the crucial minutes of a game.”

Messier was one of sports’ greatest captains. There are Rangers fans who worry that no one wears the “C” now. He says not to worry.

“In my experience, I expected everybody to lead, and everybody was welcome to lead,” Messier said. “And everybody was held accountable to lead and everybody did it in their own way, and everybody respected that. The players inside the dressing room know who the leaders are, and I’m sure that the team that’s in the Stanley Cup finals can never be accused of not having enough leadership.”

Messier watched from afar the way the Rangers rallied around Martin St. Louis when his mother passed away.

“As an outsider, you look at it as, ‘Wow, a guy just lost his mother,’ and there’s no good time for that,” Messier said. “Any team that has success finds inspiration and finds something to galvanize around. And sometimes it can be something as devastating as one of your teammates losing his mother. It has a way of putting things in perspective, it has a way of taking your own … puny, insignificant problems, and waking you up to the fact that, ‘Wow, look at where we are and the opportunity ahead of us,’ and supporting a teammate that has something like that.

“They either get stronger through things like that that happen, or they diminish, and the Rangers found a source of inspiration, and they rallied around a great man and a great team and a great bunch of guys, and collectively, they decided that they had not had enough, so they continued on their march to fulfill their dreams.”

Henrik Lundqvist makes a save in Game 2.Reuters

In Henrik Lundqvist he trusts.

“I respect him a tremendous amount,” Messier said. “I probably could count on two hands the amount of people that I played with or against that were as competitive as he is. There’s been a lot of great players — and Hall of Fame players — that never won Stanley Cups. There’s been a lot of average players that were in the right place at the right time that won the Stanley Cup. His courage and the way he’s battled these last five or six years, and what the teams have gone through at different times, his play reflects what his aspirations are, and that’s to win a Stanley Cup. And the team has rallied around him and around each other to try to do it for him and each other, quite frankly.”

Messier sees all the possibilities for Chris Kreider.

“He’s a brilliant kid,” Messier said. “He’s got a very sharp mind, a very deep understanding of a lot of things. I think now he really believes that he belongs and can excel, so the upside will be ultimately up to him to see how far he wants to take it.”

Messier, a candidate for the coaching job that opened up last summer, offered praise for Alain Vigneault’s work behind the bench.

“When times get tough, and you go through a losing stretch as early as they did, he seemed to do the right things, at least publicly,” Messier said. “From my point of view, and I think from everybody else’s point of view, he garnered the respect that one would need to earn coming into a new situation. And I think from then, the trust became apparent and the way he wanted them to play became apparent, and they became more trusting and they started playing better to the point where here they are. In my experience, coaching is the most underrated element of a championship team and a team that is doing well. A good coach is invaluable.”

Messier was special assistant to GM Glen Sather from 2009 to 2013.

“I was around most of these guys for the last four years there, and the one thing the team has is quality people, character guys that love the game, are solid citizens much like you often see with the teams that win,” Messier said. “And the thing that I’m happy for, knowing the guys personally, is that they’ve had an opportunity to understand what becoming a team really is. A lot of guys can play a whole career and never have felt what they’ve felt this playoff run, so it’s great to see that.”

No. 11 will be at Game 3. He expects a confident Rangers team.

“I sat and watched the double-overtime with my son, and it was unbelievable hockey,” Messier said. “The speed that they’re playing with and the finesse and the hockey IQ and understanding where people are, it’s just amazing hockey to watch. LA’s got the bounces, but I don’t think (chuckle) I would change too much, they haven’t trailed in the series so far. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to hold the lead, but boy, if I was coming home in their position, I’d be feeling pretty good about myself right now.”