Martin St. Louis celebrates his overtime winner that sent the Rangers to a 3-2 Game 4 win over the Canadiens last year.
AP Photo/Seth Wenig

One of the keys to last year’s run was the clutch play of savvy veteran Martin St. Louis. Acquired by Glen Sather in a captain for captain deal that sent Ryan Callahan plus first round picks to Tampa, the former Hart winner was brought to Broadway for his experience.

In the aftermath of his Mom’s death, St. Louis responded by scoring a goal in the Rangers’ Game 6 win over the Pens on Mother’s Day. He also set up Brad Richards’ series clincher in Game 7 helping his team rally from 3-1 down in advancing to the Conference Finals. In their six-game series win over the Canadiens, he was a factor scoring three goals and setting up two others in the first four games with this money OT clincher putting the Rangers up 3-1.

Even in the five-game Stanley Cup loss to the Kings, he scored twice finishing with 15 points (8-7-15) which tied him with Derek Stepan for second in team scoring behind Ryan McDonagh (4-13-17).

At age 38, St. Louis was a factor during that run. He became one of the team leaders. Following a dismal performance in Game 4 that put them down 3-1 to the Pens, it was St. Louis, Richards and Henrik Lundqvist who closed the door for a players only team meeting. They emphasized that it wasn’t over. A St. Louis Tampa team rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Pens in 2011. That along with the Rangers rallying around St. Louis allowed them to have the right psyche to pull off their first comeback from 3-1 down in franchise history. They never trailed the final three games.

In the final year of his contract, St. Louis has been streaky. Despite the ups and downs, the 39-year old future Hall Of Famer still ranked tied for second in goals (21) and fourth in points (52). He returned from a knee sprain and performed well at the conclusion of the regular season with a goal and four assists the final week.

It’s been a different story for the elder statesman who’s playing for a contract. The finish hasn’t been there. In eight postseason games, he has two assists and remains without a goal. Goals have been hard to come by lately for St. Louis. He has three goals in his last 24 games. To be fair, he played a good game Monday. More involved, he got one of the Rangers’ best chances after blocking a John Carlson shot. St. Louis broke in on Braden Holtby but a hustling Brooks Orpik forced him to rush his shot which went right into the bread basket.

“You know what, though?” No. 26 asked rhetorically, telling New York Post writer Larry Brooks that he felt good. “I had the puck a lot and I played the game I wanted to. I felt good. It just didn’t happen for me.

“Personally, it was one of my better games in a long time. I’m coming out of this game with confidence going into the next one. I’m going to build off this game.”

He’s right. He was better offensively. Defensively, that remains problematic with St. Louis beat to a loose puck on Jay Beagle’s game-winner. He’s here for one reason. To contribute offensively. He knows this could be his last chance to win another Stanley Cup. So, you know he’s giving it everything.

St. Louis turns 40 on June 18. It would be nice to see him lift the Cup as a Blueshirt. I hate critiquing him because I’ve always been a huge fan of his. The way he responded to tragedy last Spring sealed it.

As a team, the Rangers must all perform better to come back and beat the Caps. That means more from everyone. The biggest game of the season is tomorrow.