Rangers can lean on Rupp's playoff experience

OTTAWA -- If you're talking playoffs in the Rangers locker room, Mike Rupp has to be in the conversation.

Rupp, 32, the nine-year veteran who appeared in his 47th NHL postseason game when the Blueshirts, up 2-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, visited the Senators in Game 4 Wednesday night, has a spot in the history books.

He is the only NHL player whose first playoff goal was a Stanley Cup-clincher. Rupp won the hardware for the Devils, who drafted him in the third round in 2000, in Game 7 against the Anaheim Ducks in 2003.

But Rupp, one of the more down-to-earth guys in the league, is far from star struck. Two years ago with the Penguins, the 6-5 winger won the Good Guy and Community Service awards.

It's not precisely the image that comes to mind when discussing a guy who readily takes on opposing heavyweights and unabashedly comes to the aid of teammates, a trait that pleases both players and coaches.

Roll the tape back to Dec. 30, for example, when Florida's Tomas Kopecky blind-sided Michael Del Zotto with a fist to the head with eight seconds left in regulation. Rupp pulled Kopecky out of the scrum and pummeled him. "It's a sucker punch. [Kopecky] got what he deserved," said coach John Tortorella, who often mentions Rupp and Brad Richards as team leaders.

For Rupp, who signed a three-year, $4.5-million contract in July, returning to the playoffs is sweet. "That was the sole reason for coming here, to win," he said. "I wanted to get back and contend for that prize."

Being up by two games in a series, tied, or being down by two games, Rupp said Wednesday, shouldn't change the approach. "The level of importance is the same; if you have a commanding lead, you can come out flat," he said. "You'd like to be up 3-1, but you have to approach every game as a must-win."

To advance to the second round, the Blueshirts, who won 24 road games this season and skated away with a 1-0 win here on Monday, cannot ease up. "Each game gets tougher and tougher to put away," Rupp said. "We're confident on the road, but we don't think about our record. If we were terrible on the road, maybe we would, but the road doesn't intimidate us at all."

The year started well for Rupp. In the fourth game, he scored the winner in Vancouver on Oct. 18. But he was injured soon after and sidelined from Oct. 27 through Dec. 15. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on Nov. 9 to repair a torn meniscus.

Rupp's best performance came in the Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park on Jan. 2, when he scored twice in the 3-2 win over the Flyers. It was his first multi-point game since November 2009. He scored only one other goal, in Toronto on Jan. 14, but finished second in fighting majors with 13.

In the Rangers' 4-2 victory in Game 1, Rupp and Chris Neil engaged in some jousting in the third period, and drew 10-minute misconducts.

"Just a little pushing and shoving," said Rupp, who has two goals and six assists in his postseason career. "There's been a lot of conversations between whistles."

Rupp, who was born in Cleveland and roots for the Indians, likes the baseball-type schedule of the series. "It's pretty much a game every other day," he said. "You eat at the same time, in the same seat, the same portions, you get in a rhythm, for sure."

On Saturday, the Senators erased an early third-period lead and tied the series at 1 with a 3-2 overtime win. "It shows you're never safe in the playoffs when you have a lead," he said. "You have to find ways to really lay the hammer down when you're ahead. Every series seems to present those games . . . There's no complacency in here. That's a good hockey team we're playing against. "