"Brad Richards has been through the ultimate rite of passage before with John Tortorella as a member of the Lightning brigade that won the 2004 Stanley Cup without the bona fides expected of champions.

And as the Rangers — with a healthy Ryan McDonagh — go into tonight's Garden match against the Jets atop the East by virtue of a tiebreak with the Bruins and second overall to Detroit by one point while holding two games in hand, Richards maintains the coach's approach to this season is very much the same as his approach to that one.

"The way we play is different because of the difference in personnel, but the message is the same for sure," Richards told The Post yesterday following preparation for the club's final game before the All-Star break. "It was all about focus then and it's all about maintaining focus now, which is extremely important because of the attention and everything else that comes in New York when you're doing well."