Lightning's Callahan: 'There's no question I have to contribute'

Ryan Callahan showed incredible resilience by only missing one game after undergoing an emergency appendectomy, but the Tampa Bay Lightning forward wants to do more than simply appear in the lineup.

Callahan has three assists in 15 postseason appearances and no points in the first three games of the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers. He hasn't scored in the playoffs since he was captain of the Rangers in 2013, going goalless in 19 contests with the Lightning.

Tampa Bay is producing plenty of offense right now without the contributions of Callahan - who scored 24 goals during the regular season - but he isn't satisfied with being a passenger, as he explained to Brian Compton of NHL.com:

There's no question I have to contribute. I have to put goals in the net. I have to put points on the board. That's a department I need to improve on. But at the same time I can't solely get hung up on that. I'm successful when I'm banging, getting to the net, getting to the front of the net, getting to those dirty areas, and that's when I seem to score my goals. I have to be better in that area, no matter who's going or who's putting the puck in the net, and I realize that.

Callahan is under contract for five more seasons with a cap hit of $5.8 million, so it's reasonable to expect more than three assists from him in 15 games. But Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper isn't disappointed by Callahan's lack of production, praising the 30-year-old as a consummate professional.

"He wears his heart on his sleeve and it's really hard to keep that guy down," Cooper said. "I'm sure he would probably get up here and say, 'Oh, I wish I had some more goals.' But he does so many other things aside from that."

Cooper used Callahan against New York's top scoring line in Game 3 and felt Callahan did a great job of shutting them down.

"He's all about winning," Cooper said. "It doesn't matter what cost or how it's going to happen; that's what he's about."