Right from the top: Of all the Rangers’ problems during this disappointing follow-up to last year’s bang-up season, Rick Nash has been about the least of them.
Yes, no doubt, in yielding a pair of Blueblood forwards in Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov as part of the package that went to Columbus in exchange for the Big Easy, management did affect a change in the club’s chemistry.
But the more significant change in the Rangers’ DNA — the mos
t significant change — was Brandon Prust’s exit from New York via free agency to Montreal.
And while the lack of a supporting cast has been cited as a root cause of the Rangers’ problems, the larger issue was the comparatively top-heavy lineup wasn’t getting enough production from its other putative top players, most notably Brad Richards and, before being dealt at the April 3 deadline, Marian Gaborik.
So, no, it isn’t Nash’s fault that these Rangers aren’t the Black-and-Blueshirts that preceded him. Still, as the club’s lone marquee forward and most accomplished goal-scorer in the aftermath of the Gaborik deal, it is essential Nash step up his game down the stretch of this race for the playoffs.
Which is exactly what No. 61 did in concert with his teammates in last night’s 6-1 all-but must victory over the 30th-overall Panthers at the Garden, the final score padded with three goals in the final 4:49.
Nash leads the club with 18 goals and 38 points, but he was coming off a pair of successive unimposing performances. He’d been marked closely, unable to create time and space for himself with his size and speed to produce the spin shot, power drive and quick wrist from the right circle that have become his signatures.
“I always put pressure on myself every night,” Nash told The Post when asked if he put more weight on his shoulders in response to the pair of sub-par games preceding the match. “Sometimes it doesn’t go the way you want it to, but there are no excuses.
“You have to be at your best every night.”
The Big Easy was close to that last night, setting up the first goal and scoring the second, both on the power play within the opening 9:10 to get the Rangers out in front quickly, so important to a team that can be so fragile out of the gate. A second assist came later.
“[Nash is] a guy if we’re going to score two or three goals to win a game, he’s got to be involved,” said coach John Tortorella. “And he usually is.”
Tortorella has had a dickens of a time identifying his top six forwards. Last night, juggling his combinations yet again, the coach had everyone in the right place.
Nash was on the right with one-time Columbus center Derick Brassard and Ryan Clowe. Derek Stepan centered Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin. Richards was on the third line between Mats Zuccarello and Taylor Pyatt.
The three lines rolled, fair and balanced. Brassard scored twice. Zuccarello scored twice. Richards had a goal and an assist. Clowe was strong along the walls. Stepan and Callahan were effective on the forecheck.
But it was Nash, who scored his goal from his sweet spot in the right circle, who had provided the jump-start. Not unimportant, 15 of his 18 goals have come with the score within two goals either way.
This is Nash’s 10th season. He has played in one playoff series, the 2009 first round in which the Blue Jackets were swept by the Red Wings. He has participated in no other playoff races.
“In Columbus you played for your city, your fans and your organization, but there’s definite excitement playing in these games,” he said. “I wanted to come here to play in games that mean a lot.”
Five games to go, starting tonight in Buffalo. They mean a lot.