The Great Gabby agrees.
“Of course it’s my responsibility to play better no matter who I’m with,” the slumping Marian Gaborik told The Post following yesterday’s work-intensive hour-long practice. “Torts [Rangers coach John Tortorella] has talked to me about that, but I know that for myself.
“It’s obvious.”
The season-long hunt for complementary linemates hasn’t done any favors for Gaborik, who has scored in only five of his 22 games and has only one goal in his last eight contests.
The sniper has started on lines with Alex Frolov and Erik Christensen, with Sean Avery and Christensen, with Frolov and Christensen, with Derek Stepan and Christensen; with Frolov and Stepan, with Ruslan Fedotenko and Stepan, with Brandon Dubinsky and Stepan.
Still, said Gaborik, who skated yesterday with Dubinsky on the left and Stepan in the middle on a unit likely to be intact for Thursday’s Garden match against the Lightning, he has no excuse.
“Everyone would like to play with the same linemates permanently, but it hasn’t been that way so far, which is understandable, and it looks like it may not be that way all year,” Gaborik said. “No matter what, there are still things I need to do better to help my line and to create goals.
“I need to be stronger on the walls and be strong on the forecheck to put pressure on the defense and help create turnovers. I need to skate and be better defensively and away from the puck.
“I can’t go on the ice thinking about scoring. When things are going good, chances come easier and the goals come,” said No. 10, who has scored nine goals. “Now, I have to concentrate on doing the other parts of my job and working as hard as I can. If I do that, the chances will come and so will the goals.”
Stepan, back in the middle after two periods on the wing in Saturday’s 4-1 loss in Philadelphia, told The Post on Friday he blamed himself for not setting up Gaborik often enough when they had skated together previously.
“I saw that and I can say that it isn’t right for him to be putting so much pressure on himself,” Gaborik said of the precocious rookie. “The responsibility is mutual.
“We have to work for each other and for the line. I don’t believe that my linemates should be looking for me all the time. I have to do my part for myself and for them.
“It’s only important that the team have success,” said The Great Gabby. “The coach is looking for line combinations that have the right fit, and that’s his job.
“It’s my job to be better.”
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Derek Boogaard may have sustained a concussion in addition to a strained right shoulder in his fight with Matt Carkner in Ottawa on Dec. 9. Tortorella said No. 94, who took a hard right hand punch to the face before being wrestled down, has been suffering headaches.
“It’s compounded a little bit, with new problems with headaches while working out,” the coach said of Boogaard, who has missed the last five games. “You have to be concerned about a [concussion]; obviously that’s a problem.”
Vinny Prospal, believed a month away from joining the lineup following preseason knee surgery, participated in a full practice for the first time, albeit while wearing a non-contact jersey.