TAMPA, Fla. — So, here the Rangers are once again. 

For a whopping sixth time this postseason to be exact, the Rangers are gearing up for a 60-minute-or-more battle that will determine if their wondrous 2021-22 season will live to see another day, This one is Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amalie Arena, against the Lightning, who have won two Stanley Cups in the past two seasons. 

The defending champions are looking to go for the jugular after battling back from a 2-0 series deficit with three straight wins, by a combined margin of 10-4. The Rangers will find out if they have another series comeback in them and if they have what it takes to knock off the two-time reigning champs. 

“It seems like we play our best hockey when our backs are against the wall,” said Ryan Lindgren, whose bumps and bruises could serve as a visualization of how the Rangers have fought tooth and nail to get through the past two series. “We’ve just got to go to Tampa and win a game. Take it one game at a time and just draw from those past experiences and go play our best hockey.” 

Yes, the Rangers clawed out of a damning 3-1 hole to advance from a first-round bout with the Penguins. And yes, they wrestled wins in two elimination games in a row (including a convincing Game 7 victory in a previously impregnable fortress) to emerge victorious in an evenly matched second-round clash with the Hurricanes. 

But the Lightning are more of a seasoned opponent than either of those two teams. Tampa Bay is 10-4 in series-clinching games over the last three seasons. Oh, and 3-0 when under such circumstances at home. 

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It’s worth mentioning, however, the Rangers are 5-0 when facing elimination so far this postseason. 

Still, it’s David looking to slay Goliath. The Lightning have been accustomed to going for the kill for three seasons, but the Rangers have epitomized resiliency this entire year. This series will end in one of two ways: A passing of the championship torch as the Rangers’ no-quit fire burns a trail right to the Stanley Cup Final, or a snuffing of the Rangers’ rallying spirit as the Lightning charge closer to a three-peat. 

Several Rangers have acknowledged that they can draw from their multiple experiences in this same situation over the course of these playoffs, but they’ll have to maintain that same belief in themselves, as well. 

“We’ve been here before, we’ve experienced it,” Mika Zibanejad said. “Obviously, during these playoffs and during the regular season, as well. The more you do it, the more confidence you get from it. You don’t want to put yourself in a situation like that all the time, but I think we’ve been responding well. We know what we can do. We just got to go out there and do it again.” 

It won’t be surprising if the series comes down to a goaltending showdown. When it comes to the matchup between the pipes for the Rangers and Lightning, it resembles Godzilla versus King Kong. Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy are the top two goalies in the NHL right now, and it’ll either be the up-and-coming young netminder or the established veteran who earns the right to compete for Lord Stanley’s Cup. 

Vasilevskiy has been as clutch as a goaltender can be in series-clinching games over the past three seasons. Over Tampa Bay’s last two championship runs, Vasilevskiy recorded shutouts in five straight series-clinching contests, a streak that spanned from the Stanley Cup-winning Game 6 victory over the Stars in the Edmonton bubble to last season’s Cup-winning Game 5 victory against the Canadiens. 

Game 7 of the Lightning’s first-round matchup against the Maple Leafs was the first series-clinching game in the last three postseasons that Vasilevskiy didn’t pitch a shutout. Instead, he stopped 30 of 31 shots to propel Tampa Bay to a 2-1 win. His seventh-career shutout in series-clinching games, which is the most in league history, came in the form of a 49-save 2-0 win over the Panthers in Game 4 of Round 2. 

But Shesterkin has played a major part in the Rangers going 5-0 in elimination games so far this postseason, having given up 13 goals on 186 shots and never dipping below a .906 save percentage. 

The Rangers have shown they’re capable of defeating the Lightning, and they have the intangibles and the X-factor in Shesterkin to help see it through. David did triumph. To be the best, you have to defeat the best. And that is what the Rangers are tasked with now. 

Here they go again.