The pushback from the Lightning was inevitable, and every Ranger acknowledged it after they built a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final, but the team did not look ready for it.

The Rangers allowed the Lightning to waltz right back into the series with back-to-back wins at home, including the 4-1 beating the visitors took in Game 4 Tuesday night at Amalie Arena, to knot this best-of-the-East showdown at two-all heading back to the Garden.

The Rangers had a golden opportunity, and they swung and missed, twice. It may have cost them a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Lightning looked like an entirely different team in the last two games, like the reigning back-to-back champions that they are. The Rangers, on the other hand, didn’t look anything like the squad that outscored Tampa Bay 9-4 through Games 1 and 2.

As the Lightning rediscovered their championship-winning formula, the Rangers fell back into habits that plagued them through the start of the season, when goalie Igor Shesterkin carried them to a respectable record as they worked out the kinks in their game.

This year’s Home Run Derby will be held at Dodger Stadium, where the event’s two-time defending champion got into blast mode Saturday night.

Pete Alonso smashed two home runs, resurrecting an offense that had been silenced in the first two games of this series and ensuring the Mets would avoid the unchartered waters this season of a three-game losing streak.

The Mets rolled to a 9-4 victory, beating the Dodgers for just the sixth time in 30 games since 2017. Overall, the Mets hit four homers, matching a season-high they established in the home opener against Arizona on April 15.

“We just needed the win today,” Alonso said. “That’s a high-quality opponent and the past couple of nights were tough games and their pitching staff did a great job.”

Alonso hit a two-run homer in the third and three-run blast in the seventh to finish with five RBIs, tying him for the MLB lead with 53. 

It wasn’t a perfect day — Jameson Taillon fell six outs short of that — but it was pretty satisfying.

The Yankees’ long Thursday included a beat-down, a brush with history, dominant starting pitching and some dramatics.

Most importantly, the end result was two wins, 6-1 and 2-1, over the Angels in a split-admission doubleheader in The Bronx as the Yankees (36-15), who have the best record in baseball, swept a three-game series in impressive fashion.

Pinch-hitter Anthony Rizzo’s two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning of Game 2, after the Yankees had gone 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, made a winner out of Taillon, who pitched seven perfect innings before finally allowing a hit, and then a run, in the eighth.

“I was fired up,” Taillon said. “It just felt like one of those nights where we were going to make it happen.”