DENVER — The Rangers won for the first time in nearly two weeks, but Glen Sather may have lost again.
While Sather appears on the verge of erasing the summer mistake he made in signing Ales Kotalik to a three-year, $9 million free agent contract, one wonders if the Rangers general manager simply will be compounding the error by completing a deal to send the winger to Calgary in exchange for underachieving center Olli Jokinen.
According to a variety of sources, the Rangers had a trade in place to send Kotalik and a defenseman, believed to be Matt Gilroy, to Calgary in order to rent the 31-year-old Jokinen, who will be a free agent once his contract ($5.25M cap hit) expires at the conclusion of the season.
But The Post has learned that variation of the trade fell through once the Flames completed a deal yesterday with Toronto, and that Calgary has requested that Christopher Higgins join Kotalik in the package.
Sather, who advised Kotalik on Saturday that a trade was imminent, did not speak to the press here last night, before, during or after the Rangers’ impressive 3-1 victory over the Avalanche. The Blueshirts were led by Chad Johnson, who recorded his first NHL victory, and Marian Gaborik’s 10th NHL hat trick in breaking the five-game regulation losing streak during which they had held a lead for all of 31 seconds.
Jokinen has recorded 35 points (11-24) in 55 games for Calgary. Nevertheless, the talented Jokinen has garnered a reputation for disappearing when the going gets tough. It should prove to be an interesting match with Rangers coach John Tortorella, who soured quickly on the defensively deficient Kotalik.
If the revised deal including Higgins — who recorded just 14 points (6-8) for the Rangers after being acquired over the summer from Montreal in the Scott Gomez trade — is completed, the acquisition of Jokinen is likely to impact Erik Christensen, who has been skating on the first line between Gaborik and Vinny Prospal.
When Kotalik did not accompany the team on their flight here following Saturday night’s 3-2 defeat in Phoenix, the Rangers were aware of trade talks. Yet the Blueshirts produced one of their most authoritative performances of the year.
And as has been the formula for success, the Rangers were led by their goaltender and their sniper — only this time the goaltender was Johnson rather than the flu-ridden Henrik Lundqvist, who missed his second consecutive game.
“It’s such a great feeling,” said the engaging Johnson, the 23-year-old out of Alaska-Fairbanks who got his first NHL victory in his fourth start (1-2-1) with a 34-save performance. “I wanted to get the first one just to prove that I could win on this level, so it’s such a relief.
“It’s pretty exciting. I just want to take it all in.”
Johnson, who said he would send the game puck back home to his parents in Calgary — no, he is not included in the trade — was compact in his movements and poised throughout in blanking the Avalanche until Cody McLeod scored at 12:39 of the third.
At the same time, though, the Rangers did not leave this Chad hanging. They competed throughout, were strong on the puck and then allowed Gaborik to work his magic by scoring one goal in each period, the first at 13:53 to give the Rangers their first, first-period lead (and goal) in six games.
“That was a huge moment,” said Gaborik, whose third goal prompted Rangers fans in the building to toss hats on the ice.
Now, it’s on to Los Angeles for the Rangers. On to L.A. and, most likely, with Jokinen. We’ll see.