New York — For these New York Rangers, simply skating in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals — scoreless with the Tampa Bay Lightning heading into third period — was something of a postseason miracle.

They had rallied from a three-games-to-one series deficit to oust Washington in the second round and had twice won road games against the Lightning with uncharacteristic offensive outbursts.

But it was the lack of production from the top scorers Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis — and just about every other Ranger — at Madison Square Garden that undid a team that squandered its home ice advantage, which it had gained by accumulating a league-best 113 points this season.

The Rangers managed only four goals in four games and lost to Tampa Bay three times at the Garden, including Friday’s 2-0 defeat in Game 7 — the Lightning’s second straight shutout in New York. Ryan McDonagh, the Rangers’ captain, gave credit to the opposition after the loss.

“We were pretty good all year in this building and they found a way to play a good road game,” said McDonagh, who played Game 7 with a broken foot. “They didn’t give us much in any of the games here.”

The Rangers struggled at home against the Lightning after taking two of three against Pittsburgh in the opening round and three of four — including an overtime victory in Game 7 — against Washington. All of those wins were by one goal, and three of the victories came in overtime.

In the end, the road version of the Lightning — who advanced to the Stanley Cup finals for the second time in franchise history — solved the Rangers in ways the Penguins and Capitals could not.

The Rangers could not stop the Lightning’s so-called triplets line of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov, who combined for 11 goals and 24 points overall in the series.

The Lightning also had a knack for taking the Garden crowd out of games in the first few minutes. Johnson scored a shorthanded goal early in Game 2 and the Lightning went on to win, 6-2.

Tampa Bay’s defense, led by goaltender Ben Bishop, who is playing in his first postseason, then kept the home team off the scoreboard for more than seven periods after the Rangers scored their second goal of Game 2.

The Garden crowd — in past eras a boisterous and intimidating element for visiting teams — has been noticeably quieter since the arena’s $1 billion renovation was completed before last season. The sellout Game 7 crowd of 18,006 was loudest during the national anthem, then did little to help ignite the Rangers’ somnolent offense.

Derek Stepan, who scored the overtime Game 7 winner against Washington on May 13 and two of the team’s four home goals against the Lightning, said that constantly playing from behind the last two series could have been the difference maker.

“We could probably look back at it and say we chased too many series and we just ran out of juice,” said Stepan, who has played in all but one of the team’s league-most 76 playoff games the past four postseasons. “For the majority of the playoffs, we played really good hockey. Give Tampa credit; it’s a good hockey team. We just weren’t able to beat them to four.”

Now instead of preparing this week for a second-straight appearance in the finals, the Rangers will have to digest the same frustration they have known every spring since 1994, when they won their only Stanley Cup over the last 75 years.

For Henrik Lundqvist, who was his usual stellar Game 7 self before Alex Killorn broke a scoreless tie 1 minute 54 seconds into the third period, the proximity to the finals a year after the Rangers lost in five games to the Los Angeles Kings made the loss hard to absorb.

The 33-year-old Lundqvist — the bedrock of every Rangers playoff run over the last decade — was still proud of his team’s effort.

“I think we feel at least that we put everything we had, and we really did everything we could to make it back to the finals,” said Lundqvist, who lost a Game 7 at home for first time and spent the final 3:44 of the game sitting on the bench for an extra skater. “It’s extremely tough when you don’t come up with the result.”

Stepan echoed what many teammates said after the defeat, failing to find an explanation for where their offense went.

“We get it to a Game 7 on home ice and it just wasn’t there for us,” he said.

Nash — who led the team with 42 goals and added five in the playoffs — disappeared for games at a time. He scored in only four of 19 playoff games and was a nonfactor in Game 7, with one shot on goal.

Nash cited his team’s inability to force Bishop into making difficult saves, even during the Rangers’ two second-period power plays. Bishop stopped 22 shots for his second straight shutout at the Garden and his second Game 7 shutout during the playoffs.

“He was making good saves, but we didn’t test him as much as we should have,” Nash said as the Rangers’ blue equipment bags were quickly being packed in each player’s locker stall.

For St. Louis, who will turn 40 on June 18, the loss against his former team had to be especially difficult. St. Louis scored only once this postseason, a year after he had eight goals as the Rangers reached the finals.

An unrestricted free agent this summer, St. Louis has his future to consider while he watches the player who was traded for him — the former Rangers captain Ryan Callahan — play in his first Stanley Cup finals.

“It takes a few days to sink in, that the season is over,” said St. Louis, a member of the Lightning when the team won the Stanley Cup in 2004. “Time usually heals things. You’ll get a chance to reflect. It’s not going to feel good for a while.”