After his NHL seventh-best 52nd assist of the season had helped the Rangers to a 2-1 Garden win over the Lightning in the penultimate home game of his career, Wayne Gretzky talked about the fans and his adopted city.

“I’ve said it 100 times over the three years that I’ve been here that this is the greatest city to be in for an athlete. I’m amazed at how some guys say they have trouble handling the pressure of New York,” The Great One said. “I find that if you give an honest effort and work your tail off, people in the city appreciate that.

“Tonight was proof of that again. It’s a meaningless game, we’re out of the playoffs, and yet our fans were there in big numbers and they were excited about the game. It’s a shame. Two years now that we haven’t made the playoffs. The fans deserve much better.”

Gretzky did not confirm that he in fact intends to retire following Sunday afternoon’s Garden finale against the Penguins. And while his teammates and coach John Muckler said that they did not know of Gretzky’s plans, Cablevision chairman and CEO Jim Dolan, Ranger GM Neil Smith and Muckler entered the locker room for a brief, unprecedented postgame chat with the team. Smith seemed grim.

The Rangers, who had lost two straight since having been eliminated from the tournament race last Wednesday, and who had gone just 4-10-2 in their preceding 16 matches, played with verve following a lethargic opening period.

Sparked by Darren Langdon, who over the last 40 minutes received a regular shift for the first time in 80 games, the Rangers overcame a 1-0 deficit to tie the Lightning at 10:21 of the second on Mathieu Schneider’s 55-footer. They won it when John MacLean got his 28th goal of the season at 11:31 of the third, tipping in another Schneider drive after the defensemen had received a feed from Gretzky.