TAMPA, Fla. — The Rangers reported to the rink and went through their game-day routine, not that facing the Lightning on the cusp of elimination was necessarily routine. 

“We’ve been through it before, five elimination games, but we can’t be comfortable with that, either,” Andrew Copp said hours before he and his teammates attempted to avoid trap door No. 6 in Game 6 of the conference final against the Lightning. “We have to have that desperation and understand this is a different beast. 

“It’s going to be all out for 60-plus minutes for sure. No passengers, everyone driving. For sure.” 

Only one team in NHL history has won the Stanley Cup after going the seven-game distance in the first three rounds. That was the 2014 Kings, who escaped elimination seven times before beating the Rangers in the five-game finals that featured three overtime games, with Games 2 and 5 decided in the second OT. 

Those Kings came back from down 3-0 to the Sharks in the first round, down 3-2 to the Ducks in Round 2, and then survived an overtime Game 7 against the Blackhawks after holding a 3-1 lead in the conference finals. 

Eight years later, the Rangers are again chasing the 2014 Kings. 

Game 6 marked the Rangers’ 20th playoff match in 40 days. It was also Game 102 for the Blueshirts since the puck dropped on their season in Washington on Oct. 13. They entered Game 6 having won 52 games in the regular season and another 10 in the tournament. 

And they have achieved success by applying a formula that is weighted toward getting game-changing goaltending from Igor Shesterkin and production from the power play. There is more to it, of course. There is attention to detail and getting on the forecheck and defending the house, but there aren’t many secrets when it comes to the Rangers. There aren’t many secrets at this time of year, period. 

“We played a more patient game the other night and still found a way to lose late with that tough goal at the end of the game,” head coach Gerard Gallant said, referring to the 3-1 Game 5 loss Thursday at the Garden, in which Ondrej Palat scored the 2-1 goal with 1:50 remaining in regulation. “Overall, it was a coin flip for me. 

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“I expect we’ll come in [Saturday night] and play a good solid overall game. Sometimes you have to win differently than we’ve done all season long.” 

Again, though, the Rangers went about their preparation just as they have all season and just as they have throughout this tournament. They surely did not report to the rink Saturday morning thinking it might be their final game day of the year. Athletes don’t think that way. 

“We’ve been in this spot before in the first two rounds and our group as a whole has obviously handled it very well and have gained a lot of experience,” Barclay Goodrow said. “When our backs are against the wall it’s brought the best out of us so I don’t see why it would be any different [now]. 

“I think we’re excited for the challenge and are confident we can bring it back to New York.” 

Gallant’s suggestion that the Rangers might have to win “differently” raises the question: What would that actually entail? Maybe the coach was visualizing Shesterkin scoring the first goal of his NHL career while recording the first playoff shutout of his career. Probably not. 

Shesterkin has been excellent in the series. But, and this is no surprise, he has been matched save-for-save (and more) by Andrei Vasilevskiy at the other end. If this series has not necessarily featured a goaltending duel between arguably the two best in the world, that’s because there just haven’t been enough Grade-A scoring chances on either side for either netminder to take the spotlight. 

Still, of course, Shesterkin remained the team’s heartbeat, entering Saturday with a .930 save percentage and 2.57 goals-against average in his five previous potential elimination games. 

“There’s just a lot of confidence, I think he believes he can stop every shot,” Copp said. “Obviously the way he can play with his puck-handling and whatnot, he gives the team a lot of confidence back there knowing that if there are mistakes, he can bail us out.” 

In another word, routine.