Rangers must prove they can find urgency to win as series front-runners

TAMPA, Fla. — To a man, the Rangers said they knew the “push’’ was coming.

Yet when that predictable “push’’ came from the Lightning — in all-out Mach 10 desperation mode Sunday down 2-0 in the series and 2-0 in Game 3 at home — the Rangers were unable to muster enough strength to match that push.

So, here we are: A real series has broken out in the Eastern Conference Final, Rangers leading 2-1 entering Tuesday’s Game 4 at Amalie Arena instead of 3-0 with a chance to close this thing out before going back home.

One of two results will be the by-product of Tuesday night’s Game 4: The Rangers will either be going back to the Garden with a commanding 3-1 lead or the Lightning, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champs with an iron chin, will have tied the series at 2-2 having pickpocketed the momentum the Rangers had a stranglehold on when they flew to Florida.

“They’re not going to give you anything for nothing,’’ Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said after Monday’s optional afternoon skate at Amalie. “They’ve won 10 series in a row. We’re going to have to take it from them. They’re not going to give us nothing.’’

Not for nothing, but here’s what the Rangers must figure out before they take the ice against the rejuvenated Lightning Tuesday: How to play with the desperation and urgency they summoned when they were down 3-1 to the Penguins in their first series and when they were down 2-0 and 3-2 to the Hurricanes last series before winning both in seven games.

Indeed, this has been unfamiliar territory for Gallant’s young team that’s learning on the fly with each of these playoff games. We already know the Rangers have the resilience and grit to come back. Where do you think the “No quit in New York’’ slogan came from?

Now the Rangers will learn how good they are as front-runners.

“For sure, I think we know how they’re feeling, being down,’’ Rangers winger Alexis LaFreniere said. “We were down the first two series. We need to manage those leads and be ready for the full 60 [minutes].’’

While they didn’t play poorly Sunday — they were tied at 2-2 with less than a minute remaining in regulation — in the end the Rangers failed to pass their first test as front-runners.

Now they must deal with a Lightning team that believes it has found its footing in this series. That leaves the Blueshirts in a bit of a nervy place.

“Yeah, we’re getting lots of experience,’’ Gallant said with a smile and a sigh, referring to the ever-changing scenarios his team has faced in these playoffs.

Experience is a weapon for the Lightning at the moment, having won the past two Cups and with a roster laden with stars.

“We had to stop the Rangers’ roll,’’ Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “And hopefully that goal with 42 seconds [Sunday] put a little pin in their bubble.’’

There was distinct vibe from Cooper and some of his players that they believe they found a formula for beating the Rangers.

“Eight minutes left in the second period of Game 2,’’ Cooper said when asked when he felt things change, speaking about puck possession and puck management and how the Lightning became the better team at even strength, which indeed, was the case in Game 3.

“Things started to click,’’ Cooper said. “We didn’t pull that game out. We were close. Probably didn’t deserve to win that game in the end. But that’s when things changed for us, that point in Game 2.’’

Tampa Bay winger Corey Perry, who spends so much time camping in front of Igor Shesterkin he should pitch a tent, said also he felt the series shift in that second period of Game 2 at the Garden.

“We found our legs, we understood where we were,’’ he said. “It’s Eastern Conference Final. There’s only a handful of games left. I think guys really bought in and it’s one of those things where it might have just clicked and we found our groove.’’

As confident as the Tampa camp sounded, there, too, was caution.

“By no means can we hang our hat just because we scored a goal with 42 seconds left and won a hockey game and think, ‘Oh, we’re good,’ ’’ Cooper said. “That game had overtime written all over it, and who knows what happens then? It would be amateur of us to think that because we snuck a game out at that end to think, ‘Oh, we’re good.’ ’’

Perry said the message with his club is universal.

“It’s going to have to be the same [Tuesday],’’ he said. “We have to go out and do it all over again. You can’t take just being at home for granted.’’

The Rangers cannot, either.