NHL

Lundqvist again allows late goal; Red Wings beat Rangers, 3-1

The “backbone” of the Rangers, as head coach John Tortorella last night called Henrik Lundqvist, is bending.

If he breaks, the impotent Blueshirts have no chance at being a factor in the race for the playoffs, let alone qualifying for the tournament.

For the third time in his last eight starts, Lundqvist allowed either a winning or tying goal in the final five minutes of the third period. More disturbing is that the goal he yielded to Dan Cleary with 2:03 to go in regulation that broke a 1-1 tie and propelled the Red Wings to a 3-1 Garden victory, was a stinker, coming from no angle parallel with the goal line to the netminder’s right side.

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“It’s a bad goal,” said a dejected Lundqvist, who’d excelled over the first 57:57 just as he had over the full 60 in Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Buffalo. “I thought he was going to shoot a little earlier than he did, so that got me off balance a little bit. When he shot it, it was under my pad and then it went in when I moved. It was a weird goal but there is no excuse. I have to make sure I cover the post better. It’s very frustrating.”

It’s alarming actually, because now more than ever the Rangers require Lundqvist to be royalty from start to finish. This team that has not scored more than one goal in eight of its last 17 and has not scored more than two in 13 of the last 17 simply cannot surmount bad goals; certainly not when they come at the worst of times.

Marian Gaborik has been the backbone of the offense all season, but the Detroit defense pair of Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski combined with backchecking forwards to smother the go-to winger by going to him quickly and denying him time and space. Gaborik was held without a shot on goal for the first time this season.

“There wasn’t a lot of room,” said Gaborik, who leads the NHL with 21 goals but has scored in only one of his last five games. “I was trying to make things happen, but I have to play better.”

The Rangers did have their chances but were denied by Jimmy Howard, who ultimately outplayed Lundqvist. “We have to bear down on our chances,” said Sean Avery, who again was one of the best Rangers, but who missed on a wide open net from the right porch with just under 7:00 remaining in the third. “I’m talking about myself, too; I don’t have an excuse there. We’re not bearing down when we have chances to bury the puck. That has to change.”

larry.brooks@nypost.com