It took tragedy in the middle of a series in which they looked beleaguered and lifeless for it to happen but once it clicked, it was sublime to watch.
Martin St. Louis hasn't been with the Rangers long but he feels like a lifelong Blueshirt at this point, his emotion fueling his teammates forward first in Game 5, the day after his mother died, then in Game 6 with a goal on Mother's Day.
MSG turned from funereal in Games 3 and 4 to full of passion and life again on that special Sunday in which the Rangers sent the series back to Pittsburgh.
"You guys
have been nothing but unbelievable for me these past couple days and
I'll never forget that," St. Louis said after that Game 6. "I couldn't be prouder to be a
fucking New York Ranger with you guys. Thank you very much."
Heart - and pride. That's infectious.
Just a little more than two months ago, the Rangers traded away a lot to bring in St. Louis, parting with their captain and a 2015 first-round pick.
What they gained in a leader and unifying presence now seems immeasurable.
No one knew St. Louis would be faced with such adversity and that these Rangers would rally around him.
Finally though, the guys in blue don't look like a cobbled together bunch of stars with little chemistry and an inability to mesh. Lifted by the spellbinding performance of Henrik Lundqvist and timely scoring, the Rangers did what was unthinkable less than a week ago - get to and win a Game 7, pulling off the comeback from 3-1 down in the series against some of the world's best players. Improbably they'll continue their quest, facing either Boston or Montreal, a series away from the Stanley Cup Final.
And, for the past three games at least, the Rangers have gone from eliciting certain four-letter words to embodying one that's far from obscenity.
