TAMPA, Fla. — The golden opportunity is still within reach for the Rangers. 

Tampa Bay may have pulled out a win over the Rangers with a late third-period goal from Ondrej Palat in Game 3 Sunday afternoon to make this Eastern Conference Final series a competitive affair, with the Rangers up just two games to one now heading into Game 4 Tuesday night at Amalie Arena. 

But the difference between a 2-2 series and 3-1 series is astronomical when it comes to the Lightning. With a win Tuesday night, the Rangers could still put themselves in a prime position to clinch a Stanley Cup Final berth in Game 5 Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. 

Ryan Reaves said it best. The Lightning are the type of team you have to bury when you get the chance. They’re the kind of club you can’t give any breathing room or else they’ll suck all the oxygen — and eventually all the life — out of you. 

This is not the kind of opportunity the Rangers can afford to let pass them by. 

“We know they’re not going to give you anything for nothing,” Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said after an optional practice at Amalie Arena on Monday. “They’ve won 10 series in a row, so you know, we’re going to have to take it from them.” 

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To make matters more urgent for the Rangers, who are leading in a series for the first time this postseason, the possibility of a Brayden Point return is getting closer and closer. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper ruled Point out for Game 4, but that’s not to say the Lightning’s top-line center and first power-play unit contributor won’t be ready in time for Games 5-7 should the Rangers allow the series to get that far. 

Point, who suffered a lower-body injury in Game 7 of Round 1 against the Maple Leafs and hasn’t played since, can be a series-changing factor. He’s been skating daily since Game 1 of this Eastern Conference Final and working his way back, which indicates he could be ready for any game now. 

The 26-year-old is a clutch playoff player. During the Islanders’ run to the conference final in the 2020 bubble playoffs, the Lightning won all four of their games over the Isles with Point in the lineup and lost the two that he didn’t play. And in last season’s Islanders-Lightning conference final rematch, Point scored in every game aside from Game 7 to help lift Tampa to their eventual second straight Stanley Cup. 

No NHL player has more playoff goals than Point’s 30 in the past three years. He led the league with 14 in each of the last two postseasons in addition to the two he scored in the first round of this year’s tournament. 

So, in layman’s terms, the Rangers need to end this before Point can inflict his presence on the series. 

Gallant also called for his team to be grittier and compete harder. While Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad both scored on the power play, the two top forwards and the rest of the top six need to be more aggressive during five-on-five play. Zibanejad had five shots with the man-advantage, but zero shots and zero attempts at even strength. 

The Rangers have been where the Lightning are now all postseason long, chasing a series from behind, while Tampa is experiencing a playoff deficit for the first time in three years. The Rangers know the desperation all too well, but taking a playoff series by the horns and finishing it off is the next step this group needs to take to become champions. 

“I think we know how they’re feeling,” Alexis Lafreniere said. “We were down the first two series, too. It’s just to be able to play with lead in games and in the series and I think we can do it.”