The Winter Classic is over.
HBO is gone and the spotlight on the Rangers dims following their 3-2 win over the Flyers in the NHL’s most-anticipated regular-season game.
Even if upcoming games can’t inspire the same emotion or passion or imagination, they are no less vital. It is easy to forget, which is why it is being reminded.
“We’ve talked about that as a team as far as a letdown,” coach John Tortorella said. “It was a lot of emotion and we’ve got to get our energy back right away. It concerns me. It’ll probably be addressed a couple times, but I trust the hockey club. We’ve answered a lot of different situations so far and I think we’ll answer the proper way.”
The Rangers have won seven of their past eight games and hold the league’s best record (24-9-4) heading into a back-to-back set, playing host to the Panthers tonight before traveling to play in Pittsburgh tomorrow.
Brad Richards discussed how much the team has grown since the beginning of the season, but the 11-year veteran also has seen human nature afflict the best of teams.
“Sometimes the harder thing to do is when no one’s watching and it’s not as exciting or built-up games, those are the ones that can be harder to play,” Richards said after yesterday’s practice. “It’s easy to get up for the big ones and the big stages. Going through 82 games, you really got to bear down, especially in January. It’s a tough month no matter what team you play. Everybody calls them the dog days, and if you want to let it creep in your head and be mentally soft like that, it can take over a team pretty quickly.”
Michael Del Zotto is one player guaranteed to be ready for the game against the Southeast Division-leading Panthers (20-12-7). In the final seconds of the Rangers’ 4-1 win over Florida last Friday, the 21-year-old defenseman was blindsided with a gloved punch from Tomas Kopecky after the whistle, leading to a multi-player scrap.
“After how last game ended against them, it’s going to be a pretty intense and passionate game,” Del Zotto told The Post. “I’m not going to hold a grudge, but it’s not something you’re going to forget either. I still got a little bit of a black eye, so you remember it that much more when you see yourself in the mirror every day.”
* Defenseman Marc Staal said his “head is clear” and said he expects to be under the same game plan tonight as he was in his season debut on Monday, in which he played nearly 13 minutes … Tortorella said defenseman Michael Sauer, who has been out since suffering a concussion on Dec. 5, “has had a good week” and was scheduled to work out yesterday.
* Left winger Wojtek Wolski, who has not played since Nov. 3 and underwent sports hernia surgery, said he is ready to return, but Tortorella said he is reluctant to tinker with the team’s chemistry.
“If I had to, he’d probably be ready to go, but to be fair, I like what’s going on with our team right now and he’s going to have to wait his turn,” he said.