NHL

Rangers’ Tortorella takes shot at Gaborik

John Tortorella called Marian Gaborik, “a legitimate star,” but the rest of the head coach’s breakup day evaluation of the NHL’s fifth leading goal-scorer wasn’t quite so laudatory.

“Gabby is a legitimate star, but I don’t like the way he plays in big games,” Tortorella said of the winger, who scored 42 goals in his first season on Broadway. “I expect his line to play better in big games.”

Tortorella, addressing Sunday’s 2-1 shootout defeat in Philadelphia that prevented the Rangers from coming all the way back from their seven-point deficit with 10 games to play, said, “We had zero top guys show up.

“That’s what makes my stomach turn today, 48 hours later, is that we had zero top guys show up to play. We had a [gutsy] game in our building vs. Philly [Friday’s 4-3 victory] and we had zero top guys show up in Philly, which is despicable.”

Earlier in the day when discussing his shootout selections, Tortorella said that he had Gaborik slated to go fourth, [even though], I thought Gabby stunk in that game.”

Gaborik, who scored the winner on Friday, was no factor in the finale, but he had recorded 10 points (5-5) while going plus-seven during the club’s 7-1-1 run back to playoff contention, and 13 (6-7) the previous 11 games.

The 28-year-old sniper, who finished behind only Steven Stamkos, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Marleau in the Rocket Richard race, matched his career-high in goals (42) and established personal bests in assists (44) and points (86) in 76 games. He had 83 points (42-41) in 77 games with the Wild two years ago before missing nearly all of 2008-09 to hip surgeries.

Again, of the final game, Tortorella said that while he had been accused (unfairly, he thinks) of being far too quick on the trigger in changing and creating line combinations throughout the season, he now believes he should not have stuck with the same combinations as Sunday’s game evolved into a territorial mismatch, the Rangers outshot 30-13 through two and 47-25 overall.

“I was coaching on hope,” Tortorella said. “I kept Erik’s [Christensen] line together; they were brutal. I kept Olli’s [Jokinen] together; they were brutal. Dru [Chris Drury] and that line . . .

“I had defensemen play [well], a goaltender play out his [butt], and a line I gave 16, 17 minutes to in the [Artem] Anisimov line. You’re not going to win [that way],” he said.

“I look back at that and think I should have changed the lines, but I kept on hoping and hoping; hoping that Erik would make a play, hoping that Gabby would make a big play.”