Well, in the losers’ bracket of the NHL East, the Rangers didn’t damage themselves all that much last night in dropping a 2-1 overtime game at the Garden to the Sabres.
For in the potato sack race for the final two spots in the playoffs that is being contested among the Blueshirts, Bruins, Canadiens, Thrashers and Lightning, running in place might just be the surest route to the finish line.
If the Rangers had some finish, all this would not be necessary, as a Mr. L. Berra might observe. Somehow, Marian Gaborik’s return has had a Bizarro World effect on the Blueshirts, who have scored a sum of one goal in his two games back in the lineup after getting 13 without him in the previous three matches.
Somehow, after enduring separate scoreless streaks of 163:00 and 156:32 the second half of January, the Blueshirts were in a drought of more than seven periods when the Sabres gained a 1-0 lead at 14:03 of the third on an Adam Mair goal from in front.
But just as Cablevision subscribers in the region were preparing a petition for CEO Jim Dolan to drop the MSG Network from their television service, the Blueshirts were able to tie it when Brandon Dubinsky dived to poke a free puck past Ryan Miller and end the famine with 1:23 to go in regulation.
That was enough to earn the loser’s point — and earn is the proper verbiage — to which they were entitled and consigned when Patrick Kaleta banked in the winner at 2:22 of OT, but what else is new?
The fact is the Blueshirts are 1-6 in four-on-four overtime. The fact is that the Rangers have conspired to win only 14 of 35 at the Garden, their 14-15-6 mark representing the NHL’s fourth-worst home record.
If home is where the heart is, well, the Rangers did play with some heart over the final 20 minutes after an especially dreadful second period in which they couldn’t get out of their own way in their own zone and thus could not mount even a whisper of a forecheck or attack.
“It starts in our own end,” said Ryan Callahan, who had good jump throughout. “We have to get the puck out of our end and through the neutral zone in order to create offense.
“We have to stay consistent in getting the puck deep.”
Before the game, coach John Tortorella implied that Gaborik’s problems upon his return in D.C. on Saturday were due to an upper body injury — you know, like between the ears.
“He can’t play the way he played [on Saturday],” said Tortorella, suggesting he might scratch No. 10 following the warmup. “If he is not in his mind able to get through this, he won’t play.”
Cool Hand Gabby obviously got his mind right. He wasn’t at the top of his game, but there were bursts of acceleration and creativity through his 18:49 of work.
Tortorella switched his line combinations several times during the match, notably moving Olli Jokinen onto right wing on a line with Sean Avery and Artem Anisimov that proved a catalyst in the third. The coach doled out ice time accordingly, with nine forwards getting between 13:31 (Avery) and 21:26 (Chris Drury).
“The second period was trouble,” said Drury. “But as the game went on, we got a little more desperate.”
In the losers’ bracket, 20 minutes of desperate is almost good enough.