TAMPA, Fla. — No matter what happened in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final on Saturday night at Amalie Arena, whether the Rangers forced a winner-take-all Game 7 or the Lightning advanced to their third straight Stanley Cup Final, the Blueshirts have laid down a foundation to build upon for years to come. 

Gone are the days when qualifying for the playoffs is the ultimate goal. It’s the expectation now. The bar has been set, and maybe it’s a tad higher than anybody expected it to be after the Rangers’ first non-bubble playoff berth since 2017. But every championship window has to start somewhere. 

This could just be the very beginning of the Rangers’ window. 

In his first season behind the Rangers bench, Gerard Gallant proved to be a hands-off coach who doesn’t feel the need to be in the middle of everything that goes on with his team. Getting to know this group was a steady progression, but he’s now 100 percent sure about one thing: 

“We’re not going to quit,” Gallant said Saturday before the game. “We’re going to work hard and compete and battle.” 

The Rangers have done that time and time again. From the 27 comeback victories during the regular season to the three in Round 1 against the Penguins, which erased a 3-1 deficit and made them the first team in NHL history to stage three straight comeback wins in elimination games, the Rangers have proven that they play with heart. 

There are intangibles that championship-caliber clubs need, and the Rangers certainly have some. Between the way they hunger for success trickles down from the veterans to the youngsters, and the way the youngsters’ passion and emotion proves contagious for the veterans, the Rangers have coined a special dynamic in the locker room this season. 

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“The ability to overcome adversity,” Andrew Copp said of what he has learned about the Rangers during this playoff run. “There’s a lot that goes into that. It’s not just that we came back one game, but to do it over and over again, is special. A lot of that goes into the relationships in the room, the character and the work ethic. No one person is more important than the other. 

“I think there’s a lot of those types of little things that kind of add up to the big thing of being resilient and being able to overcome adversity.” 

Make no mistake, the Rangers have also proven that they have immense skill and a well-rounded team game. Their 52-24-6 regular-season record and 110 points were good for seventh in the entire NHL and second in the Metropolitan Division. They had a top-five power play and a top-10 penalty kill, while also giving up the second fewest amount of goals this season, thanks to star goalie Igor Shesterkin. 

Chris Kreider was the third highest goal-scorer in the league with a career-high 52 tallies. Mika Zibanejad was the focal point of almost every team’s game plan against the Rangers. Artemi Panarin fell just shy of the top-10 in points with 96, in a season that wasn’t even considered to be close to his best. 

The Rangers have a base in place for success. The building starts now. 

“It’s a resilient group,” Tyler Motte said. “I think that word has been used a lot. We’re confident, I don’t think we waver much from who we are as individuals or as a group. I think that says a lot about the character and the culture that we have. Our slogan about no quit, I think has gone a long way, too. I think that shows true to who we are collectively. I don’t think that’s really changed since day 1 through now. 

“I don’t think you’re going to see guys play outside themselves. We’re going to go to work for each other and we’re going to battle and see where the chips fall.”