Ryan Callahan nets two more against ex-mates; Martin St. Louis booed in his return to Tampa in Rangers'4-3 loss

TAMPA, Fla. -- Martin St. Louis said he was "expecting the worst" in his return to Tampa Bay as a member of the Rangers.

Wednesday night, he got it, as the former beloved Lightning star was booed whenever he touched the puck and during a video board tribute.

St. Louis was held without a shot and former Rangers captain Ryan Callahan -- the other side of last season's blockbuster trade -- had two goals and an assist as the Lightning won, 4-3.

Callahan, who has replaced St. Louis in the hearts of Tampa Bay fans, scored the tying goal late in the first period and the go-ahead score at 10:17 of the second.

Callahan also scored twice in his return to the Garden on Nov. 17 in a 5-1 Tampa Bay win. The teams meet again at MSG on Monday.

"These two games, he definitely had the bounces," said Henrik Lundqvist, who made 25 saves. "But he's earning them by playing really well and I think he's obviously pretty excited to play these games and prove to a lot of people how good of a player he really is."

St. Louis, who is two points from 1,000 for his career, asked to be traded last season and then helped the Rangers get to the Stanley Cup Final. Lightning fans, for the most part, have not forgiven or forgotten, if last night was any indication.

"[The boos] were expected," St. Louis said. "But I understand. They care. They're great fans. They care."

Some fans tried to overtake the boo-birds with cheers by the time "Thank you Marty" appeared on the video board.

"It was great," St. Louis said. "Brought a lot of memories and I felt I wanted to give them the thank you that they deserved . . . I was very flattered by the ovation."

Last Thanksgiving Eve, the Rangers lost to St. Louis and the Lightning, 5-0. Coach Alain Vigneault fumed afterward that his team hardly laid a glove on St. Louis, who was still beloved then in Tampa and had two goals and an assist.

"Obviously, it was a sort of Martin St. Louis lovefest out there," Vigneault said then.

It was something else entirely Wednesday night. What a difference a year makes.

The video tribute came midway through the first period with Tampa Bay leading 1-0. With Mats Zuccarello off for interference, Steven Stamkos beat Lundqvist at 5:25. After the video tribute, Zuccarello tied it at 1 off a feed from Rick Nash at 9:00.

The Rangers took a 2-1 lead on a power-play goal by Dan Boyle at 11:04. The Lightning had been called for too many men on the ice. It was the first point in seven games as a Ranger for Boyle, also a former Lightning.

Speaking of formers . . . Callahan scored a power-play goal at 17:34 to tie it at 2. Nash was called for a double-minor for a stick to the head of Ondrej Palat.

After Callahan gave Tampa Bay the lead, Nikita Kucherov was credited with a goal when a puck deflected in off his skate at 9:38 of the third to make it 4-2. Nash scored his 15th at 12:49.

Notes & quotes: The Rangers had won their previous two games by shutout, one by Lundqvist and one by Cam Talbot . . . Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop, who made 16 saves, improved to 7-0-0 vs. the Rangers.

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.