SUNRISE, Fla. – What began as a night of appreciation and inspiration for Blake Wheeler ended with his mind racing with what-ifs.

Three-and-a-half months after suffering what was initially feared to be a season-ending right-leg injury, the 37-year-old forward was back doing what he loves – and right smack in the middle of the Eastern Conference Final, no less. But with the outcome of Tuesday’s Game 4 hanging in the balance, Wheeler found himself in no-win situation.

A bad turnover from Rangers center Mika Zibanejad in the opening minute of overtime left No. 17 to chase down Panthers center Aleksander Barkov from behind. Barkov’s head start made for a foot race that few could have won, especially not a rusty veteran coming off surgery, leaving Wheeler with little choice but to hook the Florida star with his stick to prevent an uncontested breakaway.

“I've replayed it a million times between last night and this morning,” he said from the Rangers’ team hotel on Wednesday. “I own that play.”

After running through all the scenarios and talking it over with goalie Igor Shesterkin, Wheeler drew the same conclusion as most objective onlookers: There wasn’t much else he could have done.

“I talked to Shesty about it after and asked him, ‘Would you prefer me to just let him take that look?’” he said. “If there’s anyone I trust to make that save, it’s him. But if I had to do it all over again, I’d do the same thing. Hindsight is 20/20. You never know, right? He might make a big save, or not. If I let him go and he scores, or put them on the power play and we stop them. It’s a tough situation. But like I said, I own all my actions, and I think I would have done it all over the same way.”

The Panthers used the resulting power play to net the winning goal, with Sam Reinhart’s one-timer sending this series back to New York tied at 2-2.

Wheeler ending up at the center of such a consequential moment almost felt cruel given everything he went through to return, but one unfortunate play isn’t enough to squash the positivity he exhibited throughout the accelerated rehab process.

“I never wanted it to be about me,” he said. “If something comes up and I can help, I just wanted to be available for the team. … I’m very proud to have made it all the way back.”

A long road back

It didn’t seem possible when Wheeler’s knee bent awkwardly as he crumbled to the ice on Feb. 15, but that outlooked changed once doctors were able to take a closer look during surgery.

“Initially, it looked like it was unlikely,” he told lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, prior to Game 4. “I think a lot of it had to do with you how things looked when they went in to operate and just see how things went. That went great, so I think from that point on, I knew that there was going to have to be some winning done by the team, but the hard work, in conjunction with the team winning, was going to give me the opportunity to at least hang out with the guys again.”

That’s when he set the goal of working toward a potential playoff return.

It would require the Rangers advancing at least a round or two, and even then Wheeler knew there was no guarantee for a spot in the lineup. But with 16 NHL seasons under his belt and no telling how many more he has left, he couldn’t pass up the chance to try – even if it just meant practicing and traveling with the team.

“Your perspective changes, for sure,” he said. “I’ve gone so long, it almost feels like you take for granted – little things like being in the lineup and playing in the playoffs and just kind of all those things that, when it gets taken from you, you sit back and kind of realized how special it is. I think that's probably a better way to look at it. I just really realized how special these opportunities are, and just the whole process. Certainly, there's an end goal in mind. But all the process of the big wins, the tough losses, the times in the hotel with the guys, and just all the bonding that goes on this time of year. That’s what it's all about.”

There was a period when the doubts began to fester.

He was still struggling to walk six weeks after surgery, leaving Wheeler to wonder if his lofty goal would fall out of reach.

“For two weeks, it was like, ‘This is going nowhere. It's over,’” he recalled. “There were definitely some mental hurdles to go through, and that's where my support system at home was just – they’ve been rooting me on the whole way. It's been very helpful to have a family to go home to and kind of have them boost you every day.”

Then came a breakthrough, with Wheeler able to ditch the crutches and increase his rehab activities “almost daily.”

He began skating in April and took the leap of practicing with the team for the first time on May 6, less than three months after the initial injury. It’s been a steady buildup since then, culminating with Tuesday’s surprise return.

It was an especially galvanizing moment for teammates, who were awed by watching such an accomplished veteran fight to keep his season alive – “One of the hardest working players I’ve seen,” forward Jack Roslovic said – and grew closer throughout the process.

“It starts with the way he shows up to the rink every day,” Chris Kreider said. “He’s really happy to be here, happy to put in the work, a consummate professional. He treats everyone the same way. He’s very outgoing, very friendly. … He’s just been amazing to have around.”

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‘I wanted to be a part of it’

After multiple conversations between Wheeler, head coach Peter Laviolette and the Rangers’ medical staff, the determination was made that Game 4 would be a realistic target.

The 6-foot-5, 222-pounder was limited to 9:18 time on ice while registering four hits, two blocked shots and one takeaway. Foot speed remains a noticeable concern in a fast-paced playoff environment, but his line with Barclay Goodrow and Matt Rempe was mostly responsible while out-attempting Florida, 4-1, and allowing zero shots on goal, according to Natural Stat Trick.

“It's always the first things,” Wheeler said. “It's the first shift. It's the first hit. It's the first time you get a nasty puck up the wall and you’ve got to try to battle it out. It's all those little first things, but playing with Goody and Remps was great because there was no thinking involved. We were going north fast, and that was great. Getting on the body early and just kind of getting into the game. After that first shift, it just felt great to be a part of.”

There’s a chance it could be one-and-done for Wheeler, particularly with Filip Chytil a strong candidate to re-enter the lineup for Game 5 on Thursday at 8 p.m. at Madison Square Garden. But even if he doesn’t make another appearance in these playoffs, it doesn’t sound like Wheeler would change a thing.

That goes for his final shift in Game 4, but especially for the grueling road and rewarding journey that put him in that spot in the first place.

“It's been so much fun to be a part of and just meet new guys and create new relationships,” Wheeler said. “They really drove me in the rehab process, A) for the opportunity that we could do some special; and B) just to have fun being around them again. Just skating and all those great things that go into playing the game, that's what I wanted to be a part of.”

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Blake Wheeler on injury comeback, Rangers' Game 4 loss