The power play is snappy and the lineup is filled with kids in prominent roles, but the most striking difference between this Rangers squad and the scores of teams preceding it is that drama only comes in the games.
There is no doubt the Blueshirts have deficiencies. There is no down payment with the jewelers. They go back to work today in order to correct the fatal flaws that were on display in Monday’s 7-3 lashing by the Sharks, which put an emphatic end to their seven-game winning streak. They go back to work.
An era is over at the Garden. The Rangers no longer operate as a cult that revolves around a particular star’s personality. The Blueshirt play up-tempo hockey that by nature is entertaining, but John Tortorella isn’t on Broadway to direct a show.
“I’m trying to treat this team as a business and give it a more business-like identity,” the head coach said. “We’ve talked about this, how the job comes first and everything else about New York City comes after.
“The preparation, the meetings, playing the games — that’s what these players are here for. When they take care of all of those responsibilities, that’s when it’s time for them to enjoy what this city has to offer.
“But not before that.”
This is about attitude. Hockey is no longer different here. It may or may not be good enough this year, but the Rangers have adopted the same principles that apply to all successful New York franchises: Nuts and bolts first, winning second, celebrity third.
In other words, the Derek Jeter model.
“It all goes back to Torts’ message over the summer of, ‘Shut up and play,’ ” Chris Drury said. “We all know what New York has to offer, but that has to be secondary to being ready to work hard every day.”
The head coach may establish the message, but it is infinitely easier to deliver when his most important players are low-maintenance athletes wholly invested in the team concept. For the Rangers, that means Henrik Lundqvist and that means Marian Gaborik.
Lundqvist was a known quantity entering the year. Gaborik was not, hidden away as he was in Minnesota. Gaborik has been everything the Rangers could have hoped for, not only on the ice — so good that it was shocking to see him miss the net twice from the left circle on Monday — but in the room and on the bench.
Last Wednesday against the Kings, for example, when Vinny Prospal had scored two goals, Gaborik turned twice to Tortorella and pointed to his linemate to remind the coach to put him on the ice in order to go for a hat trick.
In a different game, Gaborik turned to Tortorella and pointed to Chris Higgins in an attempt to influence the coach to give the struggling and scoreless winger a shot at an empty net goal.
“Marian doesn’t draw attention to himself, but he’s engaged in all the meetings, he’s a student who asks the right questions,” Tortorella said. “He’s a good guy and a hard worker, in the same mold of Chris Drury and Henrik Lundqvist.
“When your top players and team leaders are low-maintenance guys who care more about winning than they do about themselves or what comes after the game, then you’re on the right track.
“That’s what we have here.”