And then there are those times when safe is worth two points.
For that’s what the Rangers earned at the Garden yesterday afternoon by executing a simplified game plan based largely on Boston’s relentlessly conservative style to produce a 1-0 victory and thus put the brakes on a two-game losing streak and 1-4-1 slide.
“It was a fun game, the kind of low-scoring, tight game I got used to last year,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who recorded 14 third-period saves and 29 overall to record his 21st career shutout and 150th NHL victory.
“This year I got a little spoiled with all the scoring, but this was one where you could feel that one mistake would be the difference.”
If The King had been spoiled by the Blueshirts’ early-season outburst — they scored 32 goals in their first eight games while opening 7-1 — removing Marian Gaborik from the lineup for a couple of games should have corrected the netminder’s attitude.
The fact is, if not for Gaborik, who returned after missing two games because of a knee injury and scored the lone goal at 15:51 of the second by converting Vinny Prospal’s neat left wing feed with a one-timer that beat Tim Thomas through traffic, safe might have gotten the Rangers nothing, either on the scoreboard or in the standings.
“I think everybody feels a little more confident with a guy like that in the lineup,” said Lundqvist, who has started 13 of 15 games. “It’s so impressive what he’s done.
“Top players are the difference in a lot of games. He showed that again.”
Gaborik, who curled in the slot to create space for himself on the winner while Artem Anisimov cleared out the front, said that he decided halfway through the pre-game warmup that his knee was good enough to test, even if not 100 percent.
“Skating-wise I’m not where I want to be, but I wanted to do whatever I could,” said Gaborik, who moved up to second in the league with 11 goals. “We needed the win.”
The goal-scoring droughts afflicting nearly every one of the team’s forwards continued, but the Rangers did a far better job of taking care of the puck and playing the body. They were strong on the forecheck and able to pin the Bruins for shifts at a time, notably when the Ryan Callahan-Brandon Dubinsky-Sean Avery unit was on.
The defensemen benefited by the more simple approach and were in better position without all the scrambling that accompanies head coach John Tortorella’s customary zealous pursue-and-pressure strategy. The penalty killing was outstanding.
“We needed to play a patient, grinding game,” Tortorella said. “I thought our decision-making was good. I thought our grinding was better.”
Gaborik and Prospal opened the match with Enver Lisin on the left. But when Lisin wasn’t up to the task, Tortorella moved Anisimov into the middle and shifted Prospal to the wing. The freshman pivot did fine.
“I was trying to find balance in the lineup, too,” said Tortorella after the fifth 1-0 game in the last nine between these teams. “We’re trying to find our way [with combinations]. I’m not sure how it’s going to shake out.”
It shook out yesterday with one goal and two points. It shook out with safe being good.