Richie Rich: Brad Richards celebrates at the bench with teammates following one of two power play goals.
AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

It started out with a great tradition. Every year former New York City police officer Steven McDonald presents a Ranger with the Extra Effort Award is spine tingling. The paralyzed hero again came out to loud cheers from knowledgeable fans who understand what the meaning of true sacrifice and call to duty are. After the prestigious honor went to crowd favorite Mats Zuccarello, the Blueshirts picked up the pace in the final two periods to fly past the Hurricanes 4-1.

There are a lot of things to like. Maybe not a plethora of glorious chances a speedy Carolina team had in a wide open first period. But once they tightened up defensively, the Rangers held up their end of the bargain to stay up on the Flyers, who at last check were leading Florida 4-2. Columbus won 4-3 in overtime over Phoenix. The power play broke out scoring on its first two chances. Both goals coming off the stick of Brad Richards, who had his best game in a while. He wasn’t the only one with former Lightning teammate Marty St. Louis snapping out of it with three assists. That included a pair of helpers on the power play that set up Richards, who reached 20 for the 10th time in his career.

Derek Stepan also added a goal and assist to continue his strong second half. Benoit Pouliot scored his 14th on what’s been the Rangers’ most effective line. No surprise that it features Zuccarello, who added to his team best scoring total with his team high 39th assist on a beautiful set up for Pouliot. Not to be outdone, Henrik Lundqvist was sharp throughout making 27 saves. That included nine big ones in the first when defense was optional. He made 11 more in a better second.

It didn’t start out great following the ceremony. Patrick Dwyer finished off a Brett Bellemore set up in front to put Carolina in front at 3:22. In an odd sequence, the teams traded breakaways with Cam Ward denying Rick Nash. When Alex Semin snuck behind the defense, Lundqvist had to be just as alert making an aggressive, sliding pad save to keep his team down only one. He also denied Jeff Skinner twice. Ironically, a Semin hooking minor led directly to Richards tying it. Off a Stepan faceoff win, St. Louis fanned on a shot and then made a no look backhand feed to an isolated Richards, who fired blocker side for his 19th at 15:44.

Vigneault wanted a better effort defensively along with a higher tempo. He got both in a strong second that saw the Rangers outscore the Hurricanes 2-0. Zuccarello was instrumental as usual. On a good pinch by Anton Stralman, Zuccarello came out with the puck and found Pouliot on a line change breaking for the net. Everyone thought shot except for Zuke, who neatly set up his teammate for a lay-up that put them ahead 2-1 just 50 seconds into the period.

Zuccarello continued to be everywhere making strong defensive plays including a clean takeout of Jordan Staal. A man much bigger in stature. The size of one’s heart cannot be measured. Zuccarello would later catch a Skinner elbow after releasing the puck to earn his team a second power play. They made Carolina pay with some great playmaking. On a five-on-four already, they took advantage of a Cane without a stick. St. Louis and Dan Girardi worked the puck with Richards before he blasted a one-timer top shelf to the stick side of Ward. That increased the lead to 3-1 at 13:36. Outstanding puck movement with Stepan also involved as the decoy in the slot.

Stepan doesn’t always finish. As evidenced by the 16 goals he had coming in, he’s a smart two-way playmaking pivot who thinks pass first. He was looking for his shot throughout. With the notable exception of a three-on-two in which he passed for St. Louis, who couldn’t hit the net from a tough angle. This time, Stepan got just reward when a rushing St. Louis dropped the puck behind to Stepan who buried his 17th at 4:38 of the third to put the exclamation point on an important win. Stralman helped set it up notching his second assist.

Overall, the Rangers got stronger as the game went on. They were very dangerous in the third with every line buzzing. That included Richards’ line with Swedish mates Carl Hagelin and Jesper Fast. They nearly set up Richards for a hat trick. Fast also had a nice feed earlier for Hagelin after making a smart read. He registered a shot and three hits in 18 shifts (13:54 TOI) and didn’t look out of place. The fourth line took a regular turn providing Vigneault with the kind of energy they have since January.

This was a game you had to like. Everyone came to play. Yeah. The D was shaky at moments including a wild Kevin Klein sequence where he made a sliding recovery after a giveaway. When they did allow chances, Lundqvist was there. The Rangers return to action Thursday for the final time at MSG at least in the regular season. The Sabres will be in for a visit.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Martin St. Louis, NYR (3 assists incl. 2 on power play, best game so far)

2nd Star-Derek Stepan, NYR (goal-17th, assist, strong throughout)

1st Star-Brad Richards, NYR (2 PPG-19, 20, 6 shots, a lot more confident)