WASHINGTON — When the series ended, when the Rangers went through the handshake line following last night’s 2-1 Game 7 defeat, Chris Drury used his left hand to congratulate the Capitals.
That’s because, as he told The Post, the captain had played the first round with a broken right hand he sustained late in the April 9 victory over the Flyers in the Garden finale that clinched a playoff berth.
LATE FEDOROV GOAL SINKS RANGERS’ DREAM
Drury, who sustained a non-displaced fracture when hit by a shot, missed the season finale in Philadelphia then the opening game against the Caps. He returned, but with now understandable limited effectiveness — unable to shoot or pass with authority, unable to play a hard game.
“It was frustrating, obviously,” said Drury, who scored the winner in Game 4, but finished the series with only that one point and a minus-five while getting just an average of 13:31 of ice. “And losing this series is obviously frustrating and disappointing, and maybe it hasn’t all sunk in yet.
“But when think back to that losing streak we had in February and where we were then, I think we can be proud of how far we came under Torts [coach John Tortorella].”
Drury played the final two games of last year’s second-round playoff series against the Penguins with broken ribs.
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When it over, Tortorella said he was sorry — sorry he was not behind the bench for Sunday’s 5-3 defeat in Game 6 at the Garden.
“I regret not being there. I’m part of the team, but do I think it had an effect as far as the outcome? No,” the coach said.
“Did I want to be there? Are you kidding me?” Tortorella asked rhetorically. “Of course I did . . . of course I did.
“But I don’t think it had a big effect because it’s about the players.”
Assistant coach Jim Schoenfeld replaced Tortorella for Game 6 after the head coach was suspended for throwing a water bottle into the stands here in Game 5. The Caps reinforced and widened the stanchions between the glass behind the bench for last night, thereby soundproofing it from insults from those in proximity.
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Sean Avery, who sustained a charley horse on a hit late in the match, was the Rangers’ best forward last night — winning battles, keeping the puck in deep, consistently starting the cycle with new linemates Brandon Dubinsky and Nik Antropov.
Avery, famously benched for Game 5 after taking two mindless penalties late in the Blueshirts’ 2-1 victory in Game 4, beat Brian Pothier and Sergei Fedorov in a battle to help set up Antropov for the first-period goal at 5:35 that gave the Blueshirts a 1-0 lead.
“I think Sean played so well,” Tortorella said. “He played the way he has to play, on the edge, which is a difficult thing to do, especially in the world he lives in, and I think it’s going to be that way for a long time in the NHL, with the things that go on around him that don’t happen around a lot of players.
“He and I have talked about it, and it’s the world he’s going to be in for a while.”
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Henrik Lundqvist, who yielded 13 of the 19 goals he allowed in the series on the short side, admitted that he had become somewhat fatigued in the wake of the constant pressure he faced over the course of the first four games, in which he allowed eight goals on 149 shots.
“I said ‘no,’ when I was asked the other day if I felt tired, but the first four games were so intense, by Game 5 I could really feel it,” said The King, who has a 14-16 career playoff record. “Sometimes if you get too wired, you don’t have enough energy for the next game.
“It’s something I have to learn from.”
Said Markus Naslund: “Henrik is absolutely the backbone of this franchise. He is a proud athlete who sometimes takes things too hard if things are not going well, but we all feel strongly he can win the Cup.”
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The Rangers scored 11 goals in the series, and just seven in the final six games against Simeon Varlamov after pouring in four in the opener against sieve-like Jose Theodore. The Blueshirts were outscored 12-7 at even-strength and 7-4 on the specialty units.
“I appreciate how hard we worked [in Game 7], but we’re not an offensive juggernaut and that came back to bite us,” Tortorella said. “This game was there to be had, but it was going to come down to who made the big play.
“They did and we didn’t.”