Rangers rally to win fifth straight

TAMPA, Fla. -- Since getting traded by the Lightning, the team with which he won a Stanley Cup, Brad Richards has been back to Tampa Bay three times now. He went into Saturday night's Rangers-Lightning game looking for his first win in his old home.

"I want to get that one out of the way," he said.

Richards got his wish, thanks to third-period goals by Artem Anisimov and Derek Stepan, as the Rangers won their fifth in a row, 4-2, at the St. Pete Times Forum.

Trailing 2-1 going into the third, the Rangers rallied as Anisimov scored at 6:16 and Stepan beat Mathieu Garon 10 minutes later. Richards added an empty-net goal with 25.7 seconds left. The Rangers (15-5-3) have won 12 of their last 14.

Three Rangers who were key members of the 2004 Stanley Cup champion Lightning squad returned to Tampa Bay -- not for the first time. But still, it's special for coach John Tortorella, Ruslan Fedotenko and Richards; the latter two were tapped by Tortorella to start Saturday night in a nod to their history here.

"Every time you go out here and look and see the banner, you know you were a part of something very special," said Richards, the Conn Smythe trophy winner in 2004. "I'll always have something in my heart when I come out on this ice."

Richards, who was traded to Dallas in February 2008, said: "We were three years removed from a Stanley Cup . . . You think you're going to have another chance to do it, and many more years. It just shows you how valuable your time and being on a good team is."

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Tortorella, the 2004 coach of the year, still has a home in the Tampa area. He was treated like a celebrity at Friday's practice in nearby Brandon, with one woman squealing, "We miss you!" as Tortorella signed a photo of the championship team. But the good feelings carry the Rangers' coach only so far once the puck is dropped.

"I'm not here warm and fuzzy," he said. "We're here to win. But I certainly respect the organization, the opportunity I had here. My home's here. So I certainly will not ever say it's not different coming here."

The Rangers fell behind early, just as they did in their last outing. Henrik Lundqvist (24 saves) was mad at himself for allowing the Lightning to take the lead just 1:24 into the game on Steve Downie's long slap shot after his vision was blocked by Stepan.

"I never saw it," Lundqvist said. Stepan redeemed himself later with the winner.

In their previous game, a 5-3 win at Carolina, the Rangers fell behind just 35 seconds into the game. But they tied it a little more than a minute later. That didn't happen as quickly this time. Fedotenko tied the score at the 6:38 mark of the second with a tap-in for his fourth of the season. The goal was assisted by Richards and Ryan Callahan.

Tom Pyatt put the Lightning back in front 11 minutes later with a backhander past Lundqvist after beating Jeff Woywitka down the left side. The Rangers went into the third period trailing for just the fifth time this season. They were 0-3-1 the first four times.

Anisimov tied it at 2 at 6:16 of the third. He knocked in a rebound of a Stepan shot for his third goal of the season. Stepan returned the favor at 16:41 for his fifth to give the Rangers their first lead.

The Lightning -- who wore their alternate uniforms with "Bolts" across the chest -- beat the Rangers in all four meetings last season, using four different starting goaltenders.

Notes & quotes: Stepan, who blocked a shot with his ankle Thursday and didn't practice Friday, declared himself ready to go after the morning skate . . . John Mitchell was wearing a visor one game after getting hit above the right eye with a puck and taking seven stitches.